Love at Fifth Sight v2
by Warrior of Ice
Summary: Ami and Zach are fated to meet five times before they fall in love. With all this history behind them, will they decide to spend the rest of their lives with each other or apart from each other by their fifth meeting? Ami/Zoi
1. Part I

* * *

_Ami 7_

_Rei 8_

_Jaden 9_

_Zach 7_

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part I_

Sitting in the backseat of the car with her hands folded neatly in her lap and the blunt metal tip of the beach umbrella poking into her thigh, Ami peeked cautiously at her cousin Rei, who was sitting in the seat to her right. Rei was a few months older and had been orphaned recently. Her mother was Ami's mother's older sister, and her father had no siblings, so Ami's parents had received legal custody.

Ami was extremely shy, but sympathy for Rei's situation had induced her to make an effort to be friendly and get to know her. So far, Rei was proving to be very good at being silent and unresponsive. Her form of intimidation was one of the best Ami had seen, and Ami had met a good number of intimidating people during her relatively short lifespan. Her small stature and reading habits seemed to draw bullies on the playground in an almost magnetic fashion. Rei wasn't a bully, but she was definitely scary.

When Rei's fathomless purple eyes turned her way and her left eyebrow arched, Ami quickly tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and pretended to be engrossed in the scenery. It wasn't very interesting – they were on a crowded, jam-packed highway that was certainly contributing more than its fair share to the destruction of the ozone layer, and what grass grew beyond the edge of the road was browning and dusty due to the chokehold of the summer heat.

She glanced forward and backward: nothing to see but car after car…some trucks…SUVs…exhaust fumes…a boy sticking his tongue out at her…

Ocean-hued eyes blinked twice in surprise. As the car crept forward at a snail's pace, Ami wondered if she had been imaging things. Nope – when traffic stopped again (her father muttering something inaudible under his breath as her mother murmured for him to watch his language), the car in the left lane drew even, and the boy sitting in the backseat blew out his cheeks so he looked like a monkey. He had unruly, riotous blond hair streaked with coppery highlights and looked to be about her age. She glared at him, but before he could respond in kind, he was shoved aside by another boy.

This boy was a true blond, and his facial features bore a slight resemblance to those of the first one. He grinned impishly at her and then pressed his face against the window so it looked all mashed and deformed.

Ami sucked in a breath, and Rei asked quietly, "What are you looking at?"

She pointed, and Rei said immediately, "Ew. Boys." Ami smiled, but before she could say anything, Rei unbuckled her seatbelt and swiftly climbed over the cooler in between them.

"Here's what you have to do," she proclaimed confidently as Ami cast a shocked glance at her parents, who hadn't noticed anything amiss going on in the backseat. When she looked back at Rei, she found her cousin sticking her tongue out at the short-haired boy.

He looked very shocked but was taken aback only for an instant – in the next minute, he retaliated, she communicated her reply, and the war was on between them. Ami watched in fascination as they moved on from the tongue battle to the competition of who could make the weirdest faces.

As soon as she saw that the cars ahead of them were beginning to move (and the ones in the boys' lane was not), Rei stuck out her tongue one last time, smirked superiorly, and flounced back to her seat, getting her seatbelt buckled a second before Ami's mother peered at the backseat.

Impressed, Ami turned her attention back to the front of the car as they zoomed away. The ice between them was broken, and they soon began chattering away so rapidly that Ami's parents almost wished that serene silence still prevailed.

* * *

They reached the beach around midday, and had a quick lunch of sandwiches. Ami's mother took them to the edge of the water as her husband set up his easel and paints a safe distance away, his gaze intense yet vacant as he focused on capturing the landscape. They splashed happily in the water for awhile, with Ami's mother taking turns to ferry them out to the "scary dark water." 

When their lips turned blue, she toweled them off and pulled out a stack of medical articles. "You can stay by the water and play, but don't go into the water past your knees, girls. Understand? I'll be watching you from here." Kira had set up the beach chair and umbrella close enough so that she could reach them before any serious mischief occurred.

They both nodded furiously, then raced to the water's edge again.

"What should we do?" Ami asked, ready to follow Rei's lead.

"Let's build a sandcastle," Rei said decisively. "But let's find the shells for it first."

They split up and spread out to collect the seashells they were being washed up. Ami was so engrossed in snatching a shell with a pearly, iridescent inside before the tide swept it away when clouds of sand were kicked up right in front of her face, and she scrubbed frantically at her eyes to get the sand out.

When she could see again, albeit tearily, the shell was gone, and the two fair-haired boys she had seen on the highway the day earlier that morning were racing around by the surf, whooping and yelling loudly.

Rei ran back to her, shoving the short-haired boy so he yelped and tumbled unceremoniously into the foamy water, and helped Ami wipe her face. They walked back towards her mother, and Ami glared at the boys, sniffling. They, in turn, were both scowling at Rei.

The grains in her eyes felt scratchy and uncomfortable, and her hair and face were dirty. She'd thought they were bad enough in another car, and if they were on the same beach, she was sure they would make the beach outing miserable. Rei was right – boys were icky. They would always be mean, and loud, and they'd always pick on her because she was so small and skinny...but they'd always have cooties.

Ami nodded in satisfaction as the trio headed to the restrooms so she could rinse her eyes out. That must be their punishment for being nasty: they were forever doomed to have cooties. She liked having justice doled out.

* * *

When they returned, Ami was surprised to see a red-haired woman with a hand firmly on each of the boy's shoulders. They were looking at the ground with particularly sulky pouts on their face. Seeing this, Ami bit her lip and started worrying. She hated it when grown ups made kids apologize. The teacher did it at school sometimes, and even though the bullies said they were sorry, they would get their revenge on the playground. 

"Hello. I'm Eileen Coruni, and these two miscreants are my sons, Jaden and Zachary. I believe they have something to say to your daughters."

Rei cast her aunt a brief look before returning her attention to the blue-eyed boy, who stepped forward. "Sorry," he mumbled vaguely in Ami's direction.

"Yeah," the shorter boy said after a minute.

Before Ami could say anything, Eileen swatted at Zachary's head lightly. "Not so fast, young man. I want an apology, not an agreement with your brother."

He peered up at her with indignant green eyes, rubbing the sore spot dramatically. When she only looked back at him expectantly, he sighed and said, "I'm sorry too. Okay?"

"Okay," Ami whispered, even though the "okay" was directed more towards his mom than towards her.

"There really wasn't so much harm done, right, sweetheart?" Ami's mother held out her hand to the boys' mom. "I'm Kira Mizuno. This is Ami, and that's Rei."

"Nice to meet you."

As their conversation continued, the boys ran whooping to the shore, throwing off their embarrassment in a matter of seconds. Ami and Rei proceeded at a more sedate pace, eavesdropping on the conversation going on behind them.

"…my husband, he wanted to take a day trip to paint…"

"…every summer…the cottages are really quite affordable and…"

"They must get to stay here every summer," Ami said to Rei, eyeing the candy-colored cottages at the edge of the beach town.

"Lucky," Rei responded. "Come on, we're only here for a few more hours. Let's build the sandcastle!"

"Hey, girls – come on and play with us!"

Ami shrank away from Jaden's exuberant call, while Rei eyed him suspiciously. Apparently he had no hard feelings. "What do you want?" she demanded.

He strolled up smiling. "It's more fun with four people than two. We'll play tag."

"Well…okay."

"Rei!" Ami hissed, appalled at her agreement.

As Jaden waved to Zach, Rei whispered confidentially, "Don't worry. Aunt Kira and their mom are right behind us, and it's our chance to get even."

* * *

Eileen Coruni was feeling harassed and a little mortified. She and Kira watched from the beach umbrella, intervening when necessary, as the girls were really setting Zach and Jaden off. The boys were already rambunctious to begin with, and they were even more so on the first day of their vacation. 

Most of the time, Ami was their prey. She was quieter and liable to cry, while Rei stood up for the two of them and gave as good as she got. Eileen had been shocked – she hadn't seen anyone take on both of her hellions at once before.

Unfortunately, poor Ami had been splashed numerous times, dragged underwater by the boys (Zachary was especially good at grabbing ankles and dunking his victims), snuck up on countless times, and doused with buckets upon buckets of sand and seawater dumped on her head. The boys had insisted on enforcing their rule that the person who was "It" in tag carried around a bucket filled with seawater to dump over his/her victim.

Jaden and Zachary weren't really being bullies; Jaden was the target of Zach's dunking almost as often as Ami was. The novelty was just greater with Ami because Zach would be able to drag Jaden underwater everyday for the next month or so. They were having fun and enjoying themselves, and they were always surprised when Ami burst into tears. It wasn't that they purposely made her cry or wanted to be mean; they liked jokes. They just weren't aware of the fact that it wasn't as fun for those they teased as it was for them.

As the day was winding down, Rei and Ami sat at a safe distance from the waves crashing onto the shore, engaged in building a sand castle. There were buckets, shovels, and shells to be used for decorating strewn around them, and they were having a wonderful time –until Zach, running backwards to catch a frisbee, stepped right in the middle of their nearly-completed work of art. "Oops," he managed insufficiently.

Ami watched in disbelief as its golden turrets fell before her eyes, the foundation crumbling into mere formless sand once more. Tears provided no outlet for her this time, and a hot, sweeping gush of anger flowed through her. Fury lit her blue eyes, the same color as the sun-dappled ocean on clear days, and she stood up, clenching her small fists at her sides. "I hate you!! Why do you always have to make fun of me and bother me? Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

He stared at her, too shocked to even apologize, and Jaden skidded to a rather late stop behind him, his eyes wide. Too late to salvage the situation, Eileen and Kira also came up to them just then.

Even Rei was taken aback. Patting her cousin's grimy, sand-plastered hand gently, she said, "It's okay, Ami. There's still time. We can make another sand castle."

"No! I don't want to make another sand castle! I want you – and you – to leave me alone!!" With that, she whirled around and ran off to a distant dune, plopping down with her back to them.

Jade nudged his brother and muttered in awe, "Never knew Ami had it in her."

"Me neither," Zach managed to say, his eyes fixed on her slight figure. Turning to look at his mother's dark expression, he flushed and scuffed his bare foot in the sand. "Uh...sorry, Mom."

"I don't think I'm the one you have to say sorry to, Zachary. I told you to be nice to her."

He gulped nervously. That was never a good sign. His mom hated it when she had to tell him to behave more than once, but… it was too dire. He had to ask. "What if she – what if she _bites_ me?"

"Don't be silly!" Eileen snapped, at the end of her rope.

Her other son spoke up in agreement, "Yeah, these girls are scary. I mean, that one," he indicated Rei, "she can push. And hit. And kick. _Hard_."

She smiled innocently. "I don't really think now would be a good time for them to talk to her."

Sighing, Eileen gave her sons a remonstrative look that promised severe punishment later on, vacation or no vacation, and she walked over to Ami's hunched-over form.

Brushing herself off primly as she levered herself off the ground, Rei fixed the two boys standing before her with her startling violet eyes and said matter-of-factly, "Don't worry, you'll get what you deserve. Ami says you'll have cooties forever 'n ever."

As she walked off, she heard Jaden say, "Hey, we don't have cooties...do we?"

Zach shrugged, a baffled look on his face. "The only thing I'm going to say is, those girls aren't normal. They're not like the ones back home. We'd better leave them alone for a while. Hey, look, what's that thing that looks like a plastic bag washing up on the beach? It look gross."

He grinned as inspiration hit him. "Bet you're too afraid to touch it."

"What?! I am not!" Jaden squawked, offended at being challenged by his younger brother.

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Okay, prove it," Zach smirked.

Jaden eyed the pulsating object warily. "Well – why don't you? I bet _you're_ too chicken."

"I bet first," Zach explained in a lofty tone. "Scaredy-cat."

"I am not!! See, it – OWOWOWOWOWWWWWWWW!"

* * *

Rei peered in the direction of the dramatic screams coming from the waterside curiously. "What do you think is happening?" 

Ami sniffed. "The cooties probably got him and burst all the cells in his body." She tried out the words, "A-pop-tosis and he-mo-lysis."

Overhearing this, Ami's father shot Kira a somewhat perturbed look. "Have you been letting her read your old pathology texts again?"

When Kira only shrugged, smiling innocently, he continued stowing their beach gear in the trunk and asked resignedly, "Did you girls have fun today?"

"Well…" Ami's voice trailed off as she thought about it. Some parts had been horrible. But some parts had been fun and exciting, even the chasing and tag games. "Yes."

"Yes," Rei agreed.

Richard raised his eyebrows, while Kira just smiled tiredly, "It's a long story…"

When she finished telling him about their day on the car ride home, she added, "But you know, those boys were really very cute. And you know what they say about boys that age – if they tease girls, it means they like them."

"What?! My Ami?? Don't go jumping to conclusions, Kira. Besides, she's not allowed to date until she's thirty. Better yet, thirty one and a half."

"We'll just wait and see," Kira said serenely. "Only time will tell."

* * *


	2. Part II Chapter 1

_Ami 9_

_Rei 10_

_Jaden 11_

_Zach 9_

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 2-1_

Two years later, they were standing on the shore of the same beach, watching the waves wash up in the rose and gold light of dawn. They had arrived late last night after Ami's mother had finished her shift at the hospital and fallen asleep without unpacking more than sheets and pillows.

This time, they were renting a small beach cottage with a raised porch and white walls, much to Rei's relief. She had taken one look at the little beachfront houses painted candy pink and wrinkled her nose at the girly shade, but Ami thought it was preferable to the houses painted a cross between spearmint and puke green.

After Eileen had introduced the idea to Kira, they had been trying to schedule a similar vacation. They seemed to keep getting foiled – by Richard's art show, by an emergency at the hospital, and when Ami contracted bronchitis.

Kira was looking forward to spending more time with her family. As a painter, her husband had a much more flexible schedule and usually watched the girls when they were out of school. The responsibility was chafing on Richard, though.

As his reputation grew, so did the pressure to find new scenes and paint them. He couldn't very well drag two little girls across the country in search of the perfect landscape. The shore was a compromise location: he had done one of his best paintings to date here two years ago, and he seemed to have a peculiar affinity for beach scenes.

Even now, with one hand on Ami's shoulder and the other at his side, his fingers were itching for his brushes as they watched the sunrise.

Kira turned her head to look at him, easily reading the restlessness in his lean frame. "All right, girls, let's go in before you catch a cold, and have some breakfast."

* * *

They were running towards the beach when a flash of red-gold caught Ami's eye. She stopped and narrowed her eyes against the sun, trying to place the vaguely familiar profile. "Rei? Is that…?"

A year older, Rei's memory from the time was slightly clearer, although Ami's memory had been intensified by her negative emotions. "Zachary Coruni," her cousin said flatly. They would have tried to forget him entirely, only his name came up periodically because their mother kept in touch with Eileen Coruni, at first to ask for more details about cottage rentals and then just to chat.

Ami turned to Kira with a truly betrayed look on her face. "Mom… You said they wouldn't be here until next week!"

"I thought they wouldn't be," her mother responded, smiling and waving brightly anyway. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm sure they boys have grown up since then."

A moment later, Jaden skidded to a stop before them, throwing sand over Rei's bare feet. Zach, who had been chasing him, couldn't stop in time and knocked into him from behind. Tangled in a pile at Rei's feet, they looked up and smiled innocently. "Hi," they said together.

Rei and Ami exchanged annoyed looks, while Kira seemed to find them charming. Eileen came towards them at a more sedate pace. "We thought we would surprise you!"

"You did – and it's so nice to see you again…"

"…Matthew was able to take off a week earlier after all, and so…."

"Come on, let's go," Rei said, tugging Ami away.

Distractedly, Kira reminded, "Don't go too far out, girls. Not over your heads." Rei was a decent swimmer and Ami swam like a fish, but the ocean was still a different matter than the pool.

Zach and Jaden followed them, even though they were clearly unwanted. "She's taller than me," Zach hissed at Jaden. "It's bad enough that almost all the girls in my class are taller than me, but how can Mizuno-Anderson be taller than me??"

Jaden maintained a sympathetic silence. Two years older than his brother, he had thankfully reached the age where the boys had finally begun shooting up faster than the girls and overtaking them.

Rei called over her shoulder, "It's rude to call people by their last names, you know!"

Zach glared back. "It's rude to eavesdrop, you know," he mimicked.

She flushed angrily, but Ami tugged at her arm. "Let's go swimming, Rei."

Suddenly, Zach noticed something that would make him feel better about Ami being slightly taller than him. She was so much easier to pick on than Rei was. "Hey, you have glasses!"

Ami cringed. She had just gotten glasses at the end of the school year and was upset about how she looked. In fact, she was absolutely dreading having to go back and face her classmates in September. Since she was a year older and in different classes, there wasn't much Rei could do to defend her.

"You're a four eyes!" he chortled gleefully.

Ami felt hot tears forming behind her eyes. "I am not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Don't call her that!" Rei insisted.

Zach raised his eyebrows. "Why not? She is, isn't she?"

She put her hands on her hips and retorted, "You're just jealous because it means she's smarter than you are."

"No it doesn't!" Zach looked at Jaden for confirmation.

He hadn't wanted to get involved, but sometimes siblings had to stick together, even if one was being a complete bully. He also meant what he said. "I don't think having glasses means you're smarter than other people either."

Finally, the adults noticed that their children were involved in a heated argument. "What's going on here?" Eileen asked, eyeing Jaden and Zach suspiciously.

No one said anything for a minute. Zach was scuffing his toe in the sand, glaring furiously in the direction of Ami's feet. Rei was wondering whether it was worth it to be called "tattle-tale" later on, and Jaden just wanted to avoid getting punished. Rei glanced sideways at Ami, but the younger girl shook her head firmly.

"Nothing."

"Mom, I want to go swimming. Can we?" Ami asked quietly, sidling up to her mother.

"All right," Kira said, frowning as she tried to see whether there were teardrops under Ami's lenses. "Do you boys want to go swimming, too?"

Before they could reply, Eileen said, "I think we'll let them tire themselves out first and work off this energy. Why don't we meet up tomorrow and we can all go to the boardwalk together?"

Much to Rei and Ami's chagrin, Ami's parents agreed readily, and they parted ways.

* * *

After an unfortunate outing to the boardwalk which involved a good quantity of tears, teasing, and spilled strawberry ice cream, Kira acquiesced to the girls' wishes and reduced their exposure to the terrors who lived a fifteen minute walk away.

But close to the end of the first week, when it had been raining for two days already, Rei and Ami were getting tired of being cooped up inside the house. Richard's mood was black because of his inability to work, and he finally suggested, "Take them to the Corunis'."

After a quick phone call, Rei and Ami had to be coaxed into putting on their rain slickers. "Come on, girls, it won't be that bad. Won't it be exciting to get out of the house and see something new?" Kira asked encouragingly, trying to keep her tone bright.

"Do we have to play with them?" Ami asked.

"Well…it would be nice."

Sighing, they submitted to their fate with fairly good grace.

Eileen answered the door with a smile and said, "The boys are in the back room. You girls can go right on through."

Ami padded along the honey-colored floorboards in her socks as slowly as possible. She heard noisy shouts coming from the open door, and they entered to see Zach and Jaden engrossed in a video game. Just as she was resigning herself to the prospect of a long, boring afternoon ahead, her eyes lit up when she saw the bookshelf in the corner.

Meanwhile, at the next pause in the game, Rei asked firmly, "Can I play?"

Jaden and Zach exchanged quick looks.

"But–"

"Mom said," Jaden reminded his brother.

"Okay, fine." He relinquished the controller and ran out the door, shouting, "Dad!!"

As she took his place, Rei inquired, "Where is he going?"

Jaden shrugged. "No clue."

A moment later, Zach came back, grinning triumphantly. "Dad said I could play on his computer," he announced.

His father followed him in and set the laptop on a desk in the corner. Noticing Ami sitting quietly on the couch, he asked, "Ami, do you want to play with Zach?"

"Oh, no," she declined politely. "I really like reading."

"All right. If you guys need anything, yell. And Zach?"

"Yeah?"

"If you touch any of my files again, you're dead meat. And no fiddling the settings."

"Yes, Dad," he said with a long-suffering sigh. As soon as Matthew left, he snuck a surreptitious glance at Ami.

At first he hadn't wanted to share the computer, but at the same time, Jaden was playing with Rei, and he already knew all the ways to beat the computer. It might be interesting to see how fast he could beat Ami, he thought confidently.

He called, "Hey, Ami! I challenge you to…well, you pick."

She tore her eyes away from the page reluctantly. "…gee, thanks, Zach. But I would really rather read."

"Come on, don't be such a bookworm." Zach himself enjoyed reading far more than the average nine-year-old boy and had a fairly advanced vocabulary, but he would die before he admitted to it. Or at least suffer a considerable amount of torture, he amended scrupulously.

Ami glanced at Rei, but her cousin was occupied in racing Jaden, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. "Almost there – yes – yes!! I beat your best time!" she crowed.

Used to playing with Zach, who wanted to win all the time, Jaden just shrugged and let the humiliation of getting beaten by a girl pass. If he needed an ego boost later, he could always challenge Zach to a wrestling match. "Best two out of three?"

"You're on!"

No help from that corner.

Zach was now shifting from foot to foot impatiently. "Come on, Ami. Unless you don't know how to use a computer."

A surprising, combative gleam appeared in her ocean blue eyes. "Of course I do!"

"So what's your problem? Are you afraid I'll beat you?"

Refusing to dignify his taunts with an answer, she put down the book and dragged a stool over to the table. "You said I can choose the game, right?" she asked sweetly.

Zach looked at her, considering. Well, far be it for him to go back on his word. "Yeah."

"Let's play chess."

He smirked and said magnanimously, "Okay. You be white."

As they waited for the computer to set the pieces, Ami flexed her fingers in anticipation. She already had an opening move in mind.

Within a few moves, Zach lost his sense of complacency. "Who taught you how to play?" he demanded as he waited for her to make her next move.

I learned from playing games with the computer and then reading some books," she replied serenely, her eyes flickering from left to right slightly as she considered her next move. Her fingers were steady on the mouse. "How about you?" she asked as she took his bishop.

He gritted his teeth. "My dad taught me. Then I learned to beat the computer by myself." His green eyes narrowed as they played on in silence, ignoring Rei and Jaden's raucous banter.

At last, he exclaimed smugly, "Checkmate!"

"I believe it's 'Check,'" Ami corrected, and the computer's tinny voice chimed in. She moved her king safely away as Zach's face fell.

"I'll get you this time." He pursued her king aggressively, determined not to lose. In doing so, he failed to notice the strategically-placed rook and stealthy knight moving in.

She made her last move and announced softly, "Check and checkmate."

"What? That's impossible!" He looked despairingly at the screen for salvation of his crushed ego, but there was none.

"White wins," the computer corroborated.

The small smile on Ami's lips faded as she watched him. She knew what would come next, just like with all the people she played with – he would be so angry at losing that he would say something mean and crushing to her. She decided to forestall it as long as possible. Quickly, she clicked and reset the board. "Let's switch. You take white."

He stared at her for a minute, then nodded, his mouth set in determined lines. "Okay. You're on."

As they went on challenging each other, they didn't notice that a brilliant sun had emerged from its sheath of dark clouds and the skies were clearer than ever after the rainstorm. Rei and Jaden, who were now taking a break from watching television, noticed the change and tried to persuade them to go outside.

"Come on, guys. It's warm out and the waves are huge!" Jaden said excitedly.

"You go," Zach said absentmindedly, his eyes fixed on the screen. "We'll stay and finish this game."

"Ami? Do you want to go?" Rei asked, but to her surprise, her cousin shook her head decidedly.

Once they had gone, Zach asked less confidently, "Did you want to go with them?"

She smiled back. "No, I want to finish beating you!" She felt confident enough to joke with him after he had begun doing so after a few more wins and losses. They were about even now, with Zach having won three games and Ami having won four.

He let out a surprised laugh. "No way."

To his chagrin, she won again just as they were called for dinner. She slid down from her chair and watched him warily.

"Good game," he said, even though he was disappointed with his losses. His chess skills had been a special source of pride, since Jaden wasn't particularly interested in the game ("Too slow for me," as he put it) and Zach had taken the initiative to learn on his own. But his father had recently been instilling the belief in him and Jaden that real men didn't whine about losing, so he tried to minimize the resentment in his voice.

Her relief and pleasure were evident. "You too. It was fun. My program at home is a little outdated, and you helped me evaluate the weaknesses in my pawn structure. I liked your skewer in the third game. But sometimes your sacrifices are too rash." She stopped then, realizing she was rambling out of nerves.

Zach shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked out of the room. "Yeah. Thanks. Well…maybe you could teach me some cool things, too." He wasn't about to go as far as enumerating all the awesome moves she'd made, but he was glad she wasn't gloating.

Ami smiled happily at him, and then went to sit between Rei and her mother. Zach claimed his own spot at the table and looked over at Jaden. "So, what'd you do outside?"

* * *


	3. Part II Chapter 2

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 2-2_

_Later in the second week…_

Rei squinted at the sun, wondering if it was time for dinner yet. She wished that Ami hadn't wanted to stay out of the water today. Her cousin had been acting strange lately – she loved the ocean, but she was refusing to go in more and more often. She wasn't eating her favorite foods, and she was much quieter than usual.

"Hey, Rei."

She continued pulling her long hair into a ponytail and ignored the voice.

"What's up?"

'_Why can't he just go away_?' she wondered. Playing video games on a rainy day had been fine, but it didn't mean they were best friends or anything now. And when it came down to it, the rough games the boys preferred didn't overlap greatly with the activities she and Ami wanted to do. Most of all, she wanted to be alone to brood.

"Where's the other dork?" she asked.

Jaden shrugged. "Grounded again for teasing Ami. He has to stay inside for the afternoon and clean his room."

Looking at him more closely, Rei noticed that he was holding a foam board in his right hand. "Is that a surfboard?"

He shook his head, sitting down on the hot sand next to her. "Nope. Bodyboard."

"You know how to?" She didn't really know the difference, but she figured if it was anything close to surfing, you had to be old and buff to surf. And living in California. At least, that was the impression she had gotten from commercials.

"A little bit. I started taking lessons when I was eight. It's easier than surfing for beginners and you don't have to stand up," Jaden recited, proud of himself for remembering how the instructor had described it to his mother.

"Oh."

There was silence for awhile, and then Jaden, being an active eleven year old, needed to stand up again. "Want to swim?"

"No."

"Want to watch me bodyboard?"

"Don't be a showoff," Rei said automatically, although her interest was piqued and her voice had less of a bite than usual.

He rolled his eyes. "Want me to teach you how?"

She looked at him quickly and then away. "Aunt Kira wouldn't like it."

Jaden huffed. "I won't let you get hurt."

Rei sprang to her feet, appalled at the implication. "I'm not afraid of getting hurt! I just…don't want to make Aunt Kira upset."

"Come on, my mom's watching us. I'll ask her, okay?"

Before she could say anything, he was off and running. A few minutes later, he ran back with a triumphant smile. "See, Mom said yes." He didn't repeat her admonitions for him to be nice, not to go too far out, and to make sure Rei didn't get hurt. He felt like they would make her more grouchy than usual.

Rei had a wonderful time just riding in on the waves, although Jaden did reclaim his board periodically so he could take a few turns. 'He isn't such a bad teacher,' she thought, surprised that he was laughing and encouraging her, and not laughing when she wiped out – well, not too much.

As if he had read her mind, Jaden said with a rueful grin, "I was really bad at my first lesson, and I got some bruises." And he was getting a thrill from being the teacher instead of the student, he had been bored without Zach to play with, and Rei wasn't telling him to shove off for once.

She smiled back, surprising him. "Let me go out by myself," she cajoled.

"I don't know…"

"Come on."

"But–"

"Please?"

Large purple eyes looked at him pleadingly. He had no idea how many times she would use them on him in the future, but for the very first time, he felt himself weakening towards her because of them. "Well – okay. But come right back."

"Yeah, yeah," she laughed, heading off excitedly.

Midway in, a particularly strong wave threw her off balance, and she lost control of the board. "Hey! Rei!!"

She surfaced almost immediately and waded in, seawater streaming down her face like tears.

"Are you okay?" he asked. His mom would kill him if she cried. At least, he told himself, that was why he was worried. Nothing to do with those weird crushes some of the guys at school were getting. Nothing at all.

She didn't stay anything, only stood there with her shoulders heaving.

"Rei?"

She looked up at him now with her eyes tearing up.

"Oh, no. Oh man. Don't cry. Does it hurt?"

"No… I'm – I'm really sorry about – I lost the board, Jaden."

He stared at her helplessly. "Uh – well, don't cry…" He liked the board a lot, but he was also relieved that she wasn't hurt and he hopefully wouldn't be in huge trouble.

She sat down on the sand and began crying in earnest.

'Shoot, was I not supposed to say that?' he wondered. But he didn't think that saying "Okay, go ahead and cry" would have helped much either. He sank down onto the sand beside her.

For once, Rei talked to him without prompting. It was hard to understand her through the sobs, but he made a good effort. "…I'm so… I didn't mean to, and it was fun…"

He nodded bemusedly. "…that's good…"

She gulped in a breath and then said very clearly, "It's all my fault and I always bring people bad luck."

'Whoa.' "Huh?" he asked inarticulately.

She looked at him despairingly. "I'm bad luck! I lost your board and my parents died, and Grandpa got sick so he couldn't keep me. I thought things were okay when I came to live with Aunt Kira and Uncle Richard, but now they're fighting all the time and Ami's upset and we hate it, and it's all my fault because I came here!"

Jaden was shocked into silence at her rambling explanation. He was only eleven, after all, and he didn't really know what to say, so he tried his best. "Look, Rei… I'm sure it's not your fault. Grown ups fight sometimes. Zach and I don't like it when our parents fight, but they – you know, they say sorry and things are cool again."

"This is different!" she cried. "They don't make up, they just keep fighting. And they're going to get divorced."

"What?!"

She looked at him miserably. "I know they will."

"But they didn't say they were, did they?" The parents who lived next door had gotten divorced. Jaden and Zach were friends with their son, Kyle. But Kyle's parents had told him about it and everyone knew.

"No. But I just… I know they will."

She couldn't tell what made her so sure, but it was just that gut feeling she had sometimes about bad things happening. Like right before she had fallen off her bike and needed stitches, and when she had known Ami was going to get a bad cold that turned out to be bronchitis after playing in the rain.

"I brought them bad luck."

"They don't fight because of you. You're not bad luck, Rei."

"How do you know?" she demanded tearfully.

Jaden searched frantically for the source of his conviction. Finally, a grin lit up his face. "Look," he said, pointing towards the ocean. There was his board, washing back up on the shore.

He ran forward and rescued it. "See? You're not bad luck. You must be good luck because it could have gotten swept out to sea forever, like my last one, but it came back this time."

Rei sniffed one last time, swiping at her eyes. "Really? You think so?"

He smiled back. "Yeah." Then his stomach growled noisily.

"I'm hungry. Let's go see if it's dinnertime yet."

* * *

Zach was bored out of his mind. After he had spent yesterday cleaning his room with neither books nor computer to entertain him, he was determined not to get grounded again. He was also ready to enjoy his freedom, since it was their last full day on the beach. But here he was, all by himself, feeling grouchy because Jaden had decided to play volleyball with Rei and some other kids who were also vacationing on the beach. 

They already had even teams, and he didn't particularly like volleyball, so now he was stuck finding something else to do. It also stung that Jaden had actually had fun bodyboarding with Rei yesterday.

'How could he possibly have fun with a girl?' he thought, conveniently forgetting how he had enjoyed playing chess with Ami. Suddenly, a familiar figure caught his eye, and he perked up when he saw Ami. At the least, maybe needling her would make him feel better.

"Hey. Why aren't you playing volleyball with Rei?"

She shook her head. "I didn't feel like it," she said softly.

"Well, it's a stupid sport anyway," he declared.

Ami looked at him curiously. "Well, it's okay. But I'd rather swim."

"Then why aren't you swimming?"

She responded, "I'm waiting for my dad. He's going to let me watch him paint."

At that moment, Richard came out the back door of the house, loaded down with supplies. "Here, Ames, help me carry these," he said, and she complied eagerly. He looked down at Zach rather bewilderedly. "You're Eileen and Matthew's kid, right? What's your name – Zane?"

"Zach."

"Ah." He scanned the horizon, his gaze faraway.

Ever inquisitive, Zach observed Ami and her father, noticing physical similarities and differences. Ami's head didn't even reach Richard's shoulder yet, and she looked a lot like her mother, with her dark hair and delicate build. Richard's eyes were a darker shade of navy blue than his daughter's. But her chin was like his, angular and slightly pointed, and the shape of her forehead also reflected his features.

"Let's go there," Richard announced, pointing in the general direction of some shallow but rocky cliffs on the far side of the beach, away from the crush of beachgoers milling around. "Are you coming too?"

It took Zach a minute to realize he was being addressed. "Uh – yeah – can I?"

"Sure. But be careful with these canvases."

Finding his arms full of half-finished and blank canvases, he gulped and nodded. When they reached the cliffs, Richard relieved Ami and Zach of their burdens and set up his operation meticulously.

Ami watched him with wide eyes. His hair was a little too long, his pants were impossibly wrinkled, and his splattered shirtsleeves were rolled up to the elbows. She loved watching him paint, carefully observing how he choose colors and layered brushstrokes to translate reality onto the canvas. It didn't matter that his paintings didn't have the sharp-edged clarity of photographs. She loved the wistful, slightly dreamlike quality of many of his paintings and even the savage violence of the storms he painted.

Unusually subdued during these unusual proceedings, Zach settled on a rock beside Ami and watched quietly for the next few hours. Finally, when Richard took a break from filling in the greens, browns, and tans of the scrubby, resilient beach grasses to stretch out the kinks in his back, Zach summoned the courage to break the silence. "Do you ever paint people?"

Richard glanced back at him and smiled. "Getting tired of watching me paint just the water and the rocks?" As Zach shook his head vehemently, he laughed and continued, "I'm a landscape painter and not a portrait artist. I do paint people – rarely, and when the mood strikes me. But I only paint women who are very beautiful, or particularly striking."

Hearing this, Ami felt a small wave of calm and reassurance wash over her. Her parents had had another quiet but heated argument that morning, when they had thought she and Rei were still asleep, and the tension over breakfast had been palpable. Her mother fought with icy silences and hurt tones, and her father countered with flashing eyes and shouts he had to silence to avoid waking the children.

But when he said this now, Ami remembered all the times he had said it before, referring to the large painting of Kira he had done ten years ago, before Ami had been born.

"Want to give it a try?"

"Huh?" Zach asked inelegantly.

Richard clipped a sheet of thick paper to the easel. "When I need a break from my work, sometimes I let Ami paint. It's interesting to see things from a child's perspective. I feel like it gives my work a more universalizing angle. Do you want the first turn?"

"Well – okay." He accepted the fresh brush nervously, looking at the little cakes of paint set out to his right. "Do I just – anything I want?"

"Anything you want," Richard said, moving over to help him.

Ami sat quietly, watching Richard's rare grin flash and Zach's surprised laugh. It was a strange feeling to watch her father and Zach together. It was true that her father sometimes let her paint with him, and she loved it. She had come to think of it as their special activity, one which even Rei didn't take part in, mostly because she wasn't interested in painting.

When Zach was done, he stepped back and she could finally see what was on the easel. His brushstrokes were thick and heavy, and she could tell where her father had guided the brush in a few places to help him, blurring the almost perfectly straight line where the water met sand. He had used as many as colors as possible, which she had also done when she was younger, excited at the prospect of getting to paint. Surprisingly, she liked his rendition of the sea, which was a rich dark plum highlighted with blues and greens.

Richard detached the paper and set it on the ground, weighting down the edges with stones. "We'll just let it dry for now. Good job. Come on, Ames – your turn."

It was Zach's turn to settle down and watch. She gripped the brushes more confidently than he had and was much more skilled at blending colors. She also painted more slowly and delicately, mindful of the fact that with watercolors, she wouldn't be able to paint over anything.

"Daddy, help me do the edge of the rock?" she asked.

Richard moved over to guide her wrist gently. "This is good," he told her, evaluating her progress. "You're focusing on capturing less at a time, and the perspective is improving. Maybe we should start you on art lessons."

"I'd rather paint with you," she admitted, "or watch you paint."

He smiled but said, "I'm not a very good teacher, Ami. Your mother says I lack patience."

Ami looked up at him, the corners of her mouth trembling, and he squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't be sad," he told her, and she went on painting in silence for awhile.

"I think we're done for now," Richard decided finally. "Why don't you kids run along? Don't get into any trouble, now. Stay right in front of me so I can keep an eye on you."

As they were dismissed, Zach looked at Ami questioningly. "What do you want to do? Find Rei?"

She shook her head. "I want to go swimming," she replied, her voice wavering slightly.

"Why are you sad?" he asked, baffled.

"I'm not. Are you coming or not?"

Zach shrugged. He didn't have anything better to do, and water was meant for swimming, after all. "All right."

He waited as she ran back to her father and left her glasses with him. "How are you going to swim without your glasses?"

She frowned at him, remembering his teasing from earlier that week. "I can see fine without them. I just see more clearly with them, especially when things are far away. I can swim like always." Then she waded into the ocean and started swimming away without waiting for him.

"Hey, wait up!" he called.

Zach was surprised to find out how well she swam, sleek and fast under the crests of the waves. He was even more surprised when, while he was taking a break and treading water, a phantom grab at his ankle pulled him under.

Ami giggled as he resurfaced, spluttering and spitting out water.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, glaring balefully at her.

"What goes around comes around," she said, reminding him of how many times he had scared her when they were younger.

When he dove at her, she merely laughed and swam out of reach. As the afternoon wore on, they grew cold and tired of being in the water and swam over to the pier. Zach heaved himself out first. Seeing that Ami was struggling to pull herself up, he reached over and hoisted her up as she squeaked, startled.

He wrung out his sopping hair, waiting for the sun to dry it as she sluiced water off her body onto the wet boards. The blazing sun made them shiver first, since they had just come out of the water, and then baked them into sleepiness. The lulling motion and sound of the waves crashing on the shore added to the soporific effect.

Yawning, Ami drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. "I like the ocean. And aquariums. We went on a field trip to one recently," she explained rather randomly.

"I like the sharks. And the huge sea turtles," he mumbled sleepily.

"I like seeing the tropical fish the most. They're so colorful." She reached down to scoop up a handful of seawater and peered at it intently. "Isn't it strange how there's so much stuff in here that we can't see?"

Zach roused himself slightly. "You mean like plankton?"

"Mm hmm."

He briefly pondered the idea. "It would be cool to be a scientist. Seeing all sorts of little things other people can't."

She shocked herself by telling him, "I want to be a doctor like my mom."

"Yeah?" Zach hated the doctor's office and he especially hated getting shots – the seeing the sharp, pointy needle part was more disconcerting to him than the pain – but he wasn't about to admit his fear of medical paraphernalia to her. Or how he got faint at the sight of his own blood. "That's cool."

"Yeah," she echoed softly, pleasantly surprised at his casual approbation. "What about you? A scientist?"

He lay down on the pier and propped his head up on his folded arms. "I dunno. Maybe. Or something interesting and different. A jet pilot, or a chess master, if I get good enough. Or I could design super-fast cars and drive them, too."

As the young are apt to do, Ami replied with a non sequitur. "We're going home tomorrow."

"Us too." He paused, then cracked open one green eye to look at her. "Are you coming back next summer?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not. Mom's always busy at the hospital, and Daddy could have a show."

Zach nodded. Then a thought occurred to him. "Guess we won't see each other again."

"I guess not," she agreed.

* * *


	4. Part III Chapter 1

_Ami 17_

_Rei 18_

_Jaden 19_

_Zach 17_

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 3-1 _

Ami's senior year was off to a rough start. The same classmates who had teased her about wearing glasses, the big words she used, and being a teacher's pet had grown up, but only in the sense that they had progressed to ignoring her existence entirely or looking at her with dislike, pity, and sometimes utter incomprehension.

She hated the whispers behind her back about how it wasn't humanly possible to get such high grades and how sad her life must be since she studied all the time and had no friends who weren't equally nerdy and depressing.

The giggles, stares, and harsh words crept after her no matter how quickly she walked past their source, twining thickly around her ears and lodging in the vulnerable spots of her heart. Even when they didn't say anything to her, the lonely feeling of not belonging stayed with her.

Still, one didn't go through twelve years of public education without learning to cope with its sundry unpleasant aspects. Ami knew how to get through the days with her head held high.

Her two main worries this year were that Rei was off to college and that she herself would be undergoing the college application process. With Rei had gone her small group of friends who had accepted Ami's company at their outings and who she had felt fairly comfortable around, leaving her with only a few friends in her own year. She would miss their companionship and Rei's particularly, since they were as close as sisters.

Rei was attending the state college, which was not far from home, but she was living on campus and Ami had little expectation of seeing her often. Rei's fall semester had begun three weeks ago, and she seemed to be settling in without any trouble – aside from fending off all the guys who wanted to flirt with the freshmen girls at parties on the assumption that they would be "easy."

Ami smirked slightly as she recalled her last phone conversation with her cousin, in which Rei had detailed her annoyance with drunken frat boys and exactly how she had put them in their place.

"What are you so cheerful about today?" a voice right by her ear asked.

She turned to see her friend Leah, a slender brunette who was almost perpetually gloomy and just a little neurotic about her grades. "Nothing really."

Leah's expression was skeptical, but she only said, "Come on, we'll be late to class."

As they navigated the crowded hallways, Ami tried to remind herself that there were worse things than having AP European History first thing in the morning. Like AP Calculus BC. Or maybe chemistry lab, where being half-asleep was likely to lead to poor results in the best scenario and serious accidents in the worst.

"Did you hear the news? There's a new guy who just transferred here, and it seems like he's in our year and in some AP classes as well. We'll probably seem him sometime today," Leah predicted.

Ami glanced at her, always surprised at how well her friend picked up fresh gossip even though she was as ostracized as Ami was. "No, I hadn't heard. It's strange that he would be transferring in his senior year. Don't you think it would hurt his application? He won't be in any leadership positions here…unless in his school, more juniors had leadership positions."

"Well, it's bad for him, good for us," Leah said almost cheerfully. "Don't talk about college apps anymore, it makes me feel sick."

"Sorry," Ami replied. "You don't happen to know his name, do you?"

Leah frowned in concentration. "I think his first name is Zachary, and his last name is something like… Corona? Corian? Coruni? Yeah, that's it. Zachary Coruni. I heard Lydia gushing about how cute he was to all her friends – apparently she had to show him around yesterday."

"Zachary Coruni…that name sounds familiar, but I can't figure out where I've heard it before."

"He's not famous or anything, is he?"

"I don' t know. I can't remember."

They entered their classroom, and Leah gave Ami a significant look when they noticed an unfamiliar student with strawberry blond hair surrounded by a knot of their curious – and mostly female – classmates. As they took their customary seats, Leah muttered, "He doesn't look like an honors student. He looks more like a skater or someone in a band. I think his hair is longer than mine."

Ami laughed softly until her attention was drawn by the entrance of the teacher, who set down her coffee mug and took her place in the front of the classroom.

"I'm sure you've all noticed that we have a new addition to our class," she said briskly. 'This is Zachary Coruni–"

"Call me Zach," he interrupted boldly, seemingly immune to the shocked stares he was receiving.

Unfazed, Ms. Nichols said, "That's fine. You have a bit of catching up to do – if you can stay for a moment after class, I'll give you the make up assignments and your textbook. I suggest that you consult one of the students in this class to help you catch up with the material. Ami, for example, has the highest grades. Raise your hand, please."

Ami obeyed, flushing as some of the other students shot her dirty looks or murmured about favoritism. Zach looked over and nodded politely at her. "If you don't mind, I'd really appreciate your help."

"Sure," she mumbled.

"Excellent. Why don't we go on with today's lesson now. Yesterday we left off just before the unification of Prussia…."

* * *

At the end of first period, Ami and Leah left for their next class while Zach stayed behind to speak with the teacher. As it turned out, Ami had two more classes with Zach. She watched him nervously during them, wondering if he would approach her or if he had just asked her to help him because Ms. Nichols had expected him to.

He didn't make eye contact with her at all, just slouched in his chair lazily and spoke when he was spoken to. When he answered the teachers' questions, his language was formal and polished, but his tone was just on the edge of a drawl. When he spoke to his fellow students, he used the same slang terms and gestures that they did, but his voice held the same slightly acerbic tone.

For much of the first quarter, they had no direct interaction whatsoever. Ami continued to watch him, intrigued by this newcomer who seemed to blend in perfectly yet held himself aloof. He rarely volunteered to answer questions in class and more often than not, he didn't do his homework. The mystery of how he wasn't dropped from his classes was solved by a quick perusal of the exam scores.

They were listed by student number, and most of the time, Ami's student number was at the top, although there were two or three other in her year who she competed with. It hadn't been difficult to figure out their student numbers.

Since Zach's arrival, a new student number had appeared at the top of the lists. He consistently scored in the top three on each exam and occasionally beat her in science courses, which she considered her forte.

It was a sore point, particularly since he never seemed to keep up with the reading and assignments the way she did. The fact that his overall grades were lower because of his missed homework assignments and lackluster class participation was no comfort – it only confused her further, that his test scores were brilliant but he didn't seem to care about how he was doing.

While most of the other top students were caught up in the mayhem that was high school, college applications, and extracurricular activities, Zach always seemed laidback and just a bit amused at the world. He didn't play an instrument, he didn't join any of the sports teams, and he didn't attend any after school clubs.

According to Greg Urawa, who was also in the Chess Club, Zach had challenged all the players during one of the meetings Ami had missed due to a Math League competition. He had walked out at the end of the meeting, having beaten even their best player in record time, and hadn't returned.

"It was pretty humiliating," Greg admitted to Ami during their match one Wednesday afternoon, "but if you ask me, I'm glad he didn't stick around."

"Why?" Ami asked offhandedly as she debated between moving her rook or her queen. "Was he a sore loser?" She hated people who made an issue of losing, and she had dealt with more than her fair share in all aspects of her life.

"Well…no…" He blushed slightly as he ran a hand through his untidy brown hair and messed it up even more. In truth, Greg just didn't like the guy. He envied Zach's steely confidence and had felt like a cockroach under that assessing emerald gaze.

"He's just arrogant. He needs to be taken down a notch." Greg smiled at Ami even as she took one of his knights. "Wow. Great move. If you had been here that day, Ames, you'd have beaten him for sure."

She smiled weakly at his extravagant praise. "Thanks, Greg. But from what you said, if he beat Marcus so easily, I'm not sure I would have had much of a chance, either." Marcus, the club president, was not particularly likeable, but he _was_ an excellent chess player.

Greg glanced nervously at the clock, wondering if he would have time to fit in a casual inquiry about Ami's Homecoming plans. Just as he had gotten up the courage, she checkmated him.

"Oh – good game," he said blankly, feeling the adrenaline rush fall away.

Noticing how crestfallen he was, Ami wondered if she should have wrapped up the game more slowly. "Yes, good game. That fork you used in the beginning, with your knight, was quite good. I'm sorry, Greg, but I have to run."

"Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow!" He watched her go, then hit himself on the forehead.

"Good going, Urawa."

He looked up to see Marcus shoving his thick-lensed gloves further up his pointy nose. "Shut up."

With a slight feeling of panic, he scanned the other students' faces – did they _all_ know he had had a crush on Ami since freshman year?

* * *

The next day, Ami and her lab partner prepared to run their gel in biology lab. Ami watched Maya load the dye with some trepidation – Maya was sweet, even if they didn't hang out with the same people, and she did her share of the work, but she tended to get very nervous in lab situations. Nerves all too easily led to klutziness.

Today, however, her hands seemed to be steady and sure, so Ami glanced over at the next lab station, where Zach and his partner, a blond-haired girl named Christy, were working. "Zach? Is this how you do it?"

"Yeah, sure," he said carelessly. He was more tired than usual, slumping against the counter as he watched her work with hollowed eyes.

"Zach!" she wailed. "You didn't even look!"

Ami watched avidly as an irritated look passed over his face. Lab partners were assigned and she had been wondering how he would handle the shrill-voiced girl who hardly seemed to evince the intelligence required to enroll in the class. In the next second, however, his expression was as bland as usual and he straightened up to help her.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Here's how we do it."

In the meantime, Maya had finished and signaled the teacher to come check over their apparatus before they proceeded. She whispered to Ami, "That's the fifth time he's had to read the instructions to her, and they're right on the page!"

It was a marker of how much Maya disliked Christy that she was saying this, because the petite brunette was usually nice to everyone. Ami was about to make some standard reply to this remark, but it froze in her throat when Zach lifted his head suddenly and stared right into her eyes. She felt the blood beat loudly in her head and was sure she was blushing, but she couldn't look away from those piercing green eyes until she heard the teacher's voice right by her ear.

"This looks fine, girls. Go ahead and run the gel."

"Thank you," Ami muttered, hoping she wasn't too red.

The teacher moved on to examine Zach and Christy's progress. "Your gel looks fine but you have the nodes hooked up incorrectly."

Zach felt another sliver of impatience worm its way under his skin even as he fixed the mistake quickly.

"Okay, great. You're good to go."

"Zach? Can you help me with some calc homework while we're waiting?"

He sighed inwardly, wondering why she was taking calculus when it still took him a good fifteen minutes to explain the process of opening the parentheses for multiplication. At least she was in Calc Honors instead of an AP course. "Sure."

Christy listened with half an ear, having learned to make the appropriate noises, nod, and copy down what he was saying at certain points. Mostly, she snuck covert glances at him.

The consensus among her friends was that he was extremely hot, even though he wasn't built like the football players and wrestlers. She and her girl friends had invited him to some of their parties, the movies, and some of the college parties they went to, but he always declined – politely but firmly, and he always refused to tell them what he would be doing instead.

Zach was popular with the girls because he could talk about almost anything, even though he didn't start conversations on his own. And he would help them with their homework, even if he never did his own work. Most of the guys left him alone after he had told he couldn't throw a football for his life. He was pretty good at basketball, though, and he would play with some of the guys in his development if they asked him.

Christy looked at him from under eyelashes heavy with mascara. She decided to make getting him to ask her out the goal of her senior year. There was something mysterious about him, maybe the persisting allure of the "new guy." Besides, she wanted him to keep helping her pass her classes.

* * *

Ami arrived home one evening after a particularly long club meeting, feeling completely exhausted and wondering how she would handle things once the winter sports season began. Her mother had wanted her to quit swimming since it cut into her time so much, but she loved swimming and had been convinced she could handle it. As she juggled the armful of mail under one arm and unlocked the door, she wondered if her mother had been right.

Kira still wasn't home from the hospital yet, so Ami took a long, hot shower and then fixed herself a sandwich. She sat down at the table to eat it, sorting through the mail with her free hand. Her stomach clenched when she noticed the envelope from her first-choice school. 'Today is the notification date for early applications… how could I have forgotten?'

She rose slowly to check the answering machine – sure enough, the blinking red number 4 alerted her that her friends had probably received their decisions and were calling her to find out about hers. Ami's figure hovered over the button for a minute before she curled her hand into a fist, letting the nails bite into her skin. The envelope was too slim and too small to be one of the large acceptance packages that Rei had received.

She left a note for her mother, grabbed her jacket, and turned off the lights again. The note read, "Gone to study at Leah's. Back soon." Ami walked away from the dark apartment with the letter hidden in her jacket pocket, took the stairs down to the ground level, chose a random direction, and started walking.

* * *


	5. Part III Chapter 2

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 3-2_

Zach scuffed the toe of his sneaker against the asphalt, sulking after a dressing down from Jaden. It was bad enough that his parents were always on his case, but he expected some support from his brother. But going off to college had turned Jaden into something vaguely resembling a responsible young adult, even though he did do his fair share of partying.

He shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked aimlessly. Whenever he spotted someone in the distance, especially anyone from his school, he changed his route so he wouldn't intercept them. It was just about sundown when he noticed a dark-haired girl heading in his direction. 'It's the genius girl from school… wonder what she's doing here?'

Zach considered turning onto the next street but it was a dead end, and he was curious about what she would do if she met him. After Ms. Nichols and some other teachers had spoken of her in such a complimentary way, he had been sure she would be a total bore. So he hadn't sought her out – for one thing, he didn't need her help "catching up," and for another, he had thought she would be really annoying.

At first, his impression had been confirmed. She was a straight A student who had made the honor roll all three years of high school, on the swim team, in the Chess Club and a handful of other science or math-related clubs, and she was slated to be valedictorian. It had thrown him when she didn't show off in class, didn't seem to offer anyone offense even when she had reason to.

At the moment, Zach's only issues with her were that she seemed so square and that she was friends with Leah Hamilton – who was definitely a pompous know-it-all and to be avoided at all costs.

He slowed down as they approached each other. She was just about to pass him by, her dark blue eyes looking straight through him, when he felt irritation spear through him at being ignored. "Hey," he greeted her.

"Hello," she responded automatically, and continued walking right past him.

Zach looked after her, bemused. Deciding he had nothing better to do for the night, he doubled back until he had caught up with her. "What are you doing here?"

She just looked at him, her expression bleak instead of shy. "I'm taking a walk," she replied, her light, crystalline voice starting to show some of her puzzlement.

"Yeah. Of course," he muttered. "Well, it's getting dark."

"Mm hmm." Ami made a polite noise of agreement, wishing he would stop talking. If he kept talking, she would have to focus, and that would mean she would have to break through the cold haze that had settled over her mind and blanketed the thoughts she couldn't bear to think.

'Not very friendly,' Zach thought to himself. He was about to let her go on by herself when an envelope fell out of Ami's jacket and thudded onto the pavement. Before she could stop him, he had retrieved it for her. "Here you go."

She stared at him and then down at the letter he held out, unable to bring herself to take it from him.

"Are you okay?"

Ami nodded slowly, willing herself to just take it back and go on her way. To her dismay, the tears that had threatened to fall for the past hour but just hadn't come began to stream out of her eyes.

Seriously alarmed, Zach tried to give the letter to her again. "Hey, don't cry. What's wrong?"

She didn't say anything, only shook her head and kept weeping those brokenhearted sobs that tore at his own heart.

He sighed. He hated dealing with crying girls even more than Jaden did. Just his luck, he thought sourly as he tried to calm her down. Of all the girls he had met at this new school, he would have thought Ami Mizuno-Anderson, girl genius, would have been the least likely to break down in the middle of the street. Maybe all that studying had finally gotten to her.

"Come on, calm down." He dug futilely in his pockets for a Kleenex, even though he never carried tissues anywhere with him. "Is there anyone I can call for you?"

She was finally getting herself under control again and starting to feel more than mildly embarrassed. "No. No one's at home," Ami croaked in a voice barely above a whisper. She swiped furiously at the moisture that had collected under her eyes, then looked around for the hated letter.

Zach was still holding it at his side, looking confused and concerned.

"If you'd just – give me my letter back, I'll head home. I'm sorry for – I have to go."

He handed it to her, and she stuffed it back into her pocket with stiff fingers. "Hey, you don't look so great. Why don't I walk you back? You can't live too far from here." He kicked himself mentally when she flushed brightly.

'Great job, Zach, tell her she looks like a mess. Why don't you just punch her, since you're bent on _not_ making her feel better?'

"No, I'm fine, thank you." Ami sniffed again, feeling hideous. She tried to collect herself but could only glance at the street signs a little hopelessly.

Trying to hold back a smile, Zach asked, "You don't have a clue where you are, do you?"

"I can find my way back," Ami insisted, affronted. She sounded more like her normal self, only much stiffer and colder than she did when speaking to Maya in biology class. She also looked completely lost.

"Uh huh. It's easier this way. Where do you live?"

She looked at him uncertainly, and Zach rolled his eyes. "I'm not a stalker. I go to your high school, I haven't done any jail time, etc. etc. Besides, at one point, you were supposed to tutor me in European history. Are we going to get going anytime soon?"

Ami blinked, surprised that he remembered who she was. "I live on Hawthorne Drive."

Zach smirked at her, more in his element now that she was feeling better. "That's a long street. Mind narrowing it down a little?"

She eyed him coolly. "I said I'm fine going back on my own. If you could just point me out of the development, I can stop inconveniencing you."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You're not an inconvenience, and now it's really dark out, so please let me walk you back. Otherwise I'll be worried."

"You don't even know who I am," she said.

He replied easily, "Sure I do. You go to my school, you're in my classes. I'm sure you haven't done jail time, either. Ami Mizuno-Anderson, girl genius, valedictorian, blah blah blah." He struck a pose, hoping she would smile.

"Some genius," she muttered bitterly.

Zach raised his eyebrows at her words and tone. "You seem pretty smart to me," he ventured, his curiosity piqued.

She bit her lip as the pain welled up inside her. "The admissions office apparently doesn't think so." She shivered as the autumn wind swept some crunchy leaves along the street and crept under the edges of her jacket to chill her.

Later, she would wonder how she could have been so upfront with a stranger. She would attribute it to being unable to talk to her mother, who probably wouldn't be home before she slept, or her friends, who were too competitive to be genuinely sympathetic, and even Rei, who felt just a little out of reach.

"Let's start walking," he suggested, noticing that she was cold. "Why don't you tell me what the problem is?"

"I…can't."

He was getting a pretty good idea at this point about what the problem was. He had seen Jaden's acceptance and rejection letters, and some of the more serious – and seriously uptight – seniors had been talking about it during school. Keeping his voice light, he asked, "Did you get rejected from some snobby Ivy League school?"

Ami stopped in her tracks, staring at him. "You – did you –"

"Come on, keep walking," he urged. "Don't look so shocked. Tell me about it. Sure, it's ranked in the top ten, but it costs a hell of a lot to go there and the weather sucks."

Just as he'd expected, she sucked in a breath, insulted and defensive instead of dejected. When she finished listing the virtues of the school, he said, "Okay, got it. Brilliant academics, great student-teacher ratio, and labs where you can build a better Frankenstein."

Although he had to admit her description of the laboratories had intrigued him somewhat, he prodded, "So why else did you want to go there?"

Ami had looked down while he was talking, but now lifted her chin to meet his gaze again. Firmly, she said, "I want to be a doctor. My mother's a surgeon, and it's always been my dream to become a doctor as well. But I'd like to go into pediatric oncology…"

He just watched her, feeling something very much like envy and admiration inside of him. This passion, this drive, were exactly what his parents despaired of finding in him. Zach hadn't thought it really existed, even in the kids at school who were G.P.A.-crazy. They all seemed to want to get into X college to become a doctor, lawyer, or businessman, for the glory, for the money, because "it was the right thing," and they didn't seem to think much past it. The light in Ami's eyes and the smile on her lips as she talked about her dream made their aspirations seem like pale imitations in comparison.

She continued, "This school, it has one of the top undergraduate biology programs in the nation, and I would have a good chance of getting into a top medical school if I did well there."

"You'll do well anywhere."

"I – what?" she asked, confused when he didn't come back with another biting question.

Zach looked back at her levelly. "I said, 'You'll do well anywhere.' Look at what you've done with yourself in high school. You're the perfect applicant for just about any school, and you'll excel there until you do go through med school, become a doctor, fulfill your dream."

"But – they didn't accept me," Ami said, the only response she could think of in the face of such stalwart confidence.

He shook his head impatiently. "One school, Ami. You still have what – at least seven or eight other schools you're waiting on?" When she nodded silently, he went on, "It's one silly school, too puffed up with its own importance to recognize that they have the real deal here."

Ami closed her eyes, afraid to let herself hope it could be true. "No. It's easier to get in early. The acceptance rates are much higher."

"If it were that simple, everyone would be applying early."

"They probably thought I was too square. The typical boring overachiever who only knows how to study."

Zach felt shame prickling at the back of his neck when he remembered how he had put her in that tidy little box himself. 'So fix it now,' he told himself. He wracked his brains, and then demanded, "Aren't you on the swim team?"

Ami looked a little alarmed at his forceful tone. "Uh…yes."

"And in the Chess Club? And don't you do tutor little kids in math and volunteer at the hospital and a million other things?"

She blushed. "I – well, not quite a million other things."

He smiled at her, a friendly smile without its usual sardonic curve. "Does that sound square to you? Boring? Got nothing else to offer?" Before she could formulate a reply, he said, "Someone on the admissions committee can't recognize quality, or they were having a bad day and decided to screw every other applicant over. Maybe they just didn't like your name. They have something against Ami spelled with an 'i' instead of with a 'y.' Go figure.

"But you can't let it get you down. It's your first application, and your others are bound to be better. You have almost two months before the next ones are due to polish them a bit. Your family, your friends, your teachers – they all know you can do it. Even the morons at school who think you study too much know you're going to be brilliant, and they're just jealous.

"Life's unfair, Ami. And that's what this is – unfair. But you have to go on and show them that something like this won't break you. All your hopes and dreams aren't riding on this one letter. I know it seems like that, and what would I know about it, but the truth is, they aren't. You don't pin your dreams on this school, this system, these people who sent this letter. You carry them yourself, and you'll carry them out because you'll make them happen."

He stopped to suck in a deep breath, and they had stopped just under a convenient street lamp when he had gotten into his tirade. Ami watched him, not sure if he was angry or just trying to make her feel better, or some of both. He couldn't tell if her eyes were shining with tears or from the pale golden light overhead.

She gathered her courage in that tense moment, when things were about to turn awkward. "Thank you. It really means a lot to me, what you said. You don't even really know me, but you seem to know so much about me. You're right. It hurts, and it's still going to hurt for awhile, but I let it hit me too hard. I'm going to hope for the best, and really try in the next round."

Zach was a little flushed from his vehemence. As he raked a hand through his hair, Ami wondered why he looked so much better than Greg, even though Zach's hair was windblown and had to be even messier than Greg's had been.

"Yeah. Great. Sorry… I got kind of carried away."

"No. I really appreciated it." She hesitated, then said, "My mom's so busy at the hospital that she isn't home a lot. My dad…doesn't live with us, and my friends don't really get it. Some of them are even more uptight than I am, if you can believe it. So I didn't really have anyone to talk to right away, and you helped."

"Well…whatever I can do. Here we are. Sunburst. It's the main road."

Ami knew how to walk back from this point, but she looked at him inquiringly. She knew if they parted ways now, things would be awkward between them, and she wanted to put that off as long as possible. "I live in the apartment complex right where Pine meets Hawthorne."

He smiled at her. "Going to let me tag along?"

"You would be doing me the favor," she pointed out as they set off.

"It's nothing."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, and then Ami took a deep breath and said, "Zach, you seem to… I don't really know how to put it, so please don't be insulted. You're so intelligent, so why don't you try in school?"

When he didn't speak, she said hurriedly, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so nosy. It's none of my business."

He shrugged. "It's all right. You're not the first person to ask. In fact, I think just about every teacher and guidance counselor at your weird school has asked me what question."

She retorted, "It's your weird school now too, you know."

Zach grinned at her. "You're so defensive about academic institutions. It's kind of cute."

While she turned pink, he gathered his thoughts. "I don't really have a good excuse, I guess. My parents are supportive, even though they're pretty frustrated now. They wouldn't mind that I get Bs and Cs if I didn't get such high grades on tests. They think I'm fooling around and wasting my potential. That's one of their favorite words – "potential." Now it's one of Jaden's, too – my older brother.

"I wasn't always like this. I did the good student routine for nine years or so. Then I… well, there's a regional science fair they used to encourage the students to participate in at my old high school. I guess you guys don't do that here?"

She shook her head.

"Well, it was my first year entering. It's mostly for juniors and seniors, and I was a sophomore then but my science teacher said I should go for it. Good guy. So I put together this project… and it was pretty snazzy. I'm sorry, Ami, I'm just not as modest as you are," he joked as he managed a small grin and she laughed.

"It ended up winning first place, but this other guy and his father kicked up a fuss about how I was so young and hadn't even taken any real science classes that I couldn't have done it by myself. My dad or my teacher must have helped me to put one over the judging committee. Even though it's more likely that he, or a lot of the other kids in the competition, usually do get help from their parents."

"That's really silly," Ami said softly. "It must have been really excellent to have won first place. He was just a sore loser."

He smiled at her, wondering why it was easier to tell her now when the bile in his throat practically choked him when he thought about it alone.

"What happened?"

"Well, this guy's father was some big shot who happened to donate a lot of money to various causes. Not directly to the corporation that funds the fair, because that would have been a conflict of interest with his own son entered, but he had enough sway in other areas. The officials found some loophole about how my teacher should have notified them that I was a sophomore two months earlier than he did and some crap like that, so… the kid, who was second place, was bumped up.

"Then you have me, and a bunch of people who still thought I'd cheated. School kind of sucked for awhile, and I wasn't into anything anymore. I thought, 'If something like that can happen, just over something small and petty – winning first or second place at this fair wasn't going to make or break the kid's career – well, what's the point?'

"So I was angry. Really, really pissed off. I felt bad for my father, who doesn't know a thing about science and couldn't solve a chemistry equation to save his life, and for my teacher. He's young-ish, and he felt bad for me. But I didn't want to talk to him about it. I was mad, and I got lazy, and my transcript is kind of wrecked for the past two years."

"I'm so sorry," Ami said, the sympathy plain in her voice and expression.

He resurfaced from the past, dragged himself back into the present, which somehow seemed more muddled than the bright flashes of anger and clarity that darted through his memories. "It's okay. Nothing on my permanent record, and here I am. My parents thought a new school might do me some good when junior year went badly, so we moved. Plus it's closer to Jaden's school."

When he named the state school, Ami wondered briefly if his brother knew Rei. But it was such a big school…

Instead of asking, she said, "You know, all those things you told me – you don't believe in them if you keep going this way."

"Huh?"

Ami nodded, steeling herself. "Your grades aren't competitive because you don't do any homework. You're getting Bs in most of your classes, aren't you? It's fine, it's average. B is average. You can get into a mediocre college, keep getting mediocre grades, and get a mediocre job if you don't care."

He glared at her, hating how it sounded in that cool, prim voice. "Are you calling me average?"

She looked right back at him and said calmly, "I'm calling you a hypocrite. You told me not to let some silly admissions office get me down. You're in a two year slump because of some science fair officials. I know it wasn't right. It was terribly wrong.

"But now you're not doing anything about it, and you're letting that experience get the better of you. You're brilliant, Zach. Your experience at the science fair showed you that. And you're getting Bs without doing any work for them. Your test scores are phenomenal – I'll admit it, even if it's been a thorn in my side for the past few months. But it's all going to waste."

She had been getting under his skin, but now he was getting calmer. "Don't stop. Keep the compliments coming. So really, it's been pissing you off, how well I do on tests?"

Ami frowned at him. "You're being a pain."

"I believe the exact phrase was 'a thorn in your side.' If you ask me, that sounds classier than simply 'a pain.'"

"Don't change the subject!" she insisted, even as she hid a smile.

He sighed. "You're better at this motivation/guilt thing than my parents. So you think you're going to reform me and get me into some fancy school that'll whip me into shape?"

"Hardly," she replied dryly. "You're going to have to shape up on your own terms."

When he looked mildly disappointed, she relented and said, "If you want to study with us, you're welcome to."

Zach grinned. "Supportive environment and stuff like that? Leah won't like that, you know."

Ami wrinkled her nose at him. "If you don't want to study with us, you can just say so instead of pinning the blame on us."

"Okay, okay, kidding here. So when and where?"

"Are you serious?" she asked, studying him with those ocean blue eyes he thought could see right through him.

"Yeah. You're looking at a reformed man, Ami." Despite the dramatics and slight smirk on his face, he was planning to keep his word. "Just tell me when and where."

She sighed, wondering if she had gotten herself into more trouble than she had bargained for. "We usually have a study group in the public library everyday after school except Fridays because the school library closes too early. But not all of us are there all the time. With clubs and whatnot, most of us don't get there until about an hour after school lets out."

They had reached her apartment complex, and she had her keys out. To her surprise, the lights were on now. "It looks like Mom's home early," she remarked. Turning to Zach, she said, 'Thank you for walking me home, and for telling me some things I needed to hear. And I'm sorry for some of the things I said. I hope I didn't offend you."

Zach smiled at her. "No harm done. And I figure, now you have to put up with me – that should be enough punishment for anyone."

And so they parted ways, she to go in and break the news to her mother, and he to start on his homework.

* * *


	6. Part III Chapter 3

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 3-3_

Although Ami was generally right about things, Zach turned out to be right about quite a few things as well. Leah was grumpy about Zach settling down with their group of mainly girls until he showed her that he was there to study, not disturb them. Mostly.

They had a few more laughs, a few more sarcastic comments, and a broader range of conversation topics on breaks. He made an effort to get along with all of them, except for Greg, who joined them occasionally and who Zach liked to taunt by teasing Ami.

Eileen Coruni nearly had a heart attack the first time she came into Zach's room and found him at his books again. His teachers were similarly taken aback when they started receiving assignments from him, although the majority of them were encouraging to the point of embarrassment.

The members of the study group all ended up preparing for an important chemistry test instead of attending Homecoming, which wasn't such a big deal at their school, after all. But after the test was over, they went out for ice cream and to see a movie that weekend.

Zach's grades skyrocketed abruptly, and while his G.P.A. was slower to recover, he seemed enthused about his chances of getting into a good college. He worked on his nerves by coaxing Ami to stop revising her applications for what must have been the thirtieth time and just submit them before winter break so she could enjoy the holidays.

As for Ami, she did her best to keep her spirits up while school, applications, and the swimming season swamped her. It became somewhat routine for Zach to go home with her when their study group ended, since their houses seemed a little lonely with Rei and Jaden off at college and Ami's mother was never back until late.

Zach never became particularly personable with their study group. More often than not, a sarcastic comment would issue forth from his smart mouth, but he was marginally more friendly.

He still helped silly girls with their homework and occasionally played basketball with guys who ragged him about his newfound study habits. He shrugged it off and continued to sass the teachers as much as he dared.

With Ami, he was more himself, willing to laugh and make fun of himself. They talked about school and politics, science and poetry. She listened to him moon over blonde girls with at least average intelligence and above average figures, while he made her admit her crush on young Einstein. Although he didn't tell her so, Zach figured he had to be much better looking than Einstein had been at their age.

When college break began, they started spending less time with each other outside of the study group, as Rei and Jaden were both home. At the close of the last day of school before winter break, Ami found Zach standing by her locker. "Did you cut last period?" she asked suspiciously. His last period class was much farther away than hers, and she hadn't dawdled on her way.

"Nope. I have my ways. Want to give me a ride home?"

Ami raised her eyebrows, pretending to consider. "What happened to yours?"

He shrugged. "Jaden dropped me off this morning. He wanted the car to take his girlfriend on a date. It's really weird – I didn't even know he had a girlfriend, but apparently she goes to college with him and lives close to us. I told him I'd catch a ride with you."

"You did, did you?"

Zach grinned charmingly at her. "Yes. Come on, Ames. You're not going to leave me stranded here, are you?"

She sighed as she closed her locker and zipped up her backpack. "It would serve you right. You're a shameless reprobate." Then she narrowed her eyes at him as he fell behind, a hand inching toward the front pocket of her backpack.

"Don't even think you can finagle the car keys from me, Zach."

"But your car is so much cooler than mine," he whined.

"Yes, it is." Ami smiled smugly, a new expression for her that she found very gratifying when it was directed at Zach. "Which is why I'm driving it and you're not."

He sighed in a melancholy manner but cut the act short when he spotted the very delectable Rachel Hughes approaching them. "Hey, Rachel."

Ami barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Zach's "suave" tone.

Rachel smiled brightly with her white, even teeth that didn't even have lip stick stains on them. "Hi, Zach! Hi, Ami," she added as an afterthought.

"Hi, Rachel," she responded tiredly.

From that point on, the conversation turned to Rachel's winter plans (skiing with her family in the Poconos) and what a drag their AP Lit teacher was for assigning them _Crime and Punishment_ over break.

Ami pasted a polite smile on her face during their chat, relieved when Rachel finally ended it.

"Sorry about that… Okay, let's go," Zach said somewhat wistfully.

She glanced over at him and asked sweetly, "Oh, are you sure? I wouldn't want you to miss out on talking to _Rachel_."

She tried to imitate the way he had said her name, and he turned beet red. "Shut up. You're so mean."

"Me?_I'm_ mean? This coming from Mr. Ami-will-give-me-a-ride-home?"

"You don't really mind, do you?" He widened his eyes and gave her his best earnest look.

Her heart somersaulted in her chest, and she looked away quickly. 'It's not fair. No guys should have eyelashes that long.'

"No. I don't. Come on, it's freezing, and I parked really far away today."

He grumbled as they jogged to her car, "You'd think that we would have snow for Christmas, but no, it's just freezing cold all the time."

Ami laughed at him as her chilled fingers fumbled with the keys. "You're just out of shape."

"What?!" he yelped, half-outraged. "I'll have you know, just because I'm not on the swim team – which is a good thing, because if I were, I'd have to shave more things than my face and that's just not manly – doesn't mean I'm out of shape."

They argued cheerfully on the way home about his physique, the weather, and what radio stations he was switching to. As they approached their houses, Zach asked, "Can I come over? Mom and Dad won't be home for awhile, and I can call Jaden and bully him into picking me up."

"Of course. That's strange… There's another car in the spot, and it's not Mom's. Actually, it's – Zach, why is your car in my parking spot?"

He lifted his hands in an I-don't-know gesture and grabbed his backpack and hers from the backseat. Suddenly, a disturbing thought occurred to him. "Don't tell me Jaden's girlfriend is…"

"Give that back. I'm perfectly capable of carrying a backpack to the front door. In fact, I carry it by myself through the entire school day."

"Calm down, don't get snippy. Let me be a gentleman. Do you think Jaden's dating–"

"You, a gentleman?" she scoffed. "Besides, I need my backpack to get my house keys."

Zach relinquished the backpack by dumping it unceremoniously in her outstretched arms. "Here, take it. Any chance your cousin is –"

The front door opened before Ami could unlock it and before Zach could finish his sentence. A girl with incredibly long black hair and purple eyes looked out at them.

"Rei! What are you doing home so early? I thought you were going out today."

Rei shrugged and said in a slightly irritated tone, "I was, but _someone_ got hungry so we came back here."

A pair of azure blue eyes under a mop of messy blond hair peered over her shoulder. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Rei. It hurts my feelings."

"What feelings?"

Ami blinked as Zach started cracking up. "Wow. I didn't know your cousin was my brother's girlfriend."

"What?" Surprised, Ami stopped in the process of unlacing her shoes. "Rei, you're dating–"

"Me." Jaden smiled at her. "Hi, I'm Jaden Coruni."

Rei blushed at the arch look Ami directed at her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. We just…kind of got together. Recently."

"What Rei is trying to say," Jaden cut in smoothly, "is that my handsome face and debonair manner had her so falling so hard that she couldn't bring herself to succumb to my charms until right before winter break."

As Zach snorted, Rei muttered, "Charms. He thinks he has charms."

Ami glanced back and forth between the three of them, feeling overwhelmed. She sought refuge in formalities. "Rei, I don't think you've met Zach, have you?"

"Oh, but she has," Jaden said, his eyes twinkling merrily.

"She has?" Zach and Ami asked at the same time.

It was Rei's turn to smirk. "Oh, I have. Don't you remember, Ami? A couple of summers ago, when we were, I don't know, nine? Ten? we went to the beach and were tormented by these two terrors."

Ami wracked her brain for her memory of that golden summer, the last one before her parents had gotten divorced. She brought to mind the image of two extremely hyperactive young boys and glanced up to see their grown up selves standing before her. 'So that was why his name sounded familiar.'

"No way," Zach said, staring at her in disbelief.

"You were really mean to Ami," Rei reminded him heartlessly. "I'm surprised she even speaks to you now."

He fidgeted, embarrassed. "Oh yeah… sorry about that."

Ami smiled, able to appreciate their earlier run in with more grace now that they were older. "Oh, well. You turned out better than I thought you would, anyway." Over Jaden and Rei's laughs and Zach's affronted protests, she said, "I thought you were completely hopeless."

"Hmph." He sulked as they all laughed at him.

Soon enough, they were gathered around the kitchen table, sipping the green tea Rei brewed and Zach gagged on until Ami supplied him with hot chocolate.

* * *

As soon as they Zach and Jaden left, Ami turned to Rei with a questioning look on her face. "So?"

Rei flushed and moved to clear the cups from the table. "So what?"

"How did you start dating? You never mentioned him! Or was he–" Ami cut herself off and began laughing again. "Oh no, he was, wasn't he?"

"Was what?" her cousin grumbled.

Ami reminded her, "That guy you never named but always called a numbskull. You said he was one of those people whose sole purpose in life was to consume precious oxygen and contribute to global warming by exhaling carbon dioxide."

She started laughing again, and Rei couldn't help smiling as well. "That wasn't a bad one, was it? But don't tell him I said it!"

"All right, I won't. Jaden seems nice. He even knows how you brew tea," Ami teased, watching the color come into Rei's cheeks.

To turn the tables, Rei asked slyly, "And what about you and Zach?"

Ami's eyes widened as Rei watched her carefully. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You seem close."

She fiddled with the dish dresser. "Oh. Well. We're just friends. He joined the study group."

Rei raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really? He doesn't seem like the studious type."

"He isn't, but he's really smart." Ami was detailing the extent of Zach's intelligence when she noticed Rei was holding back laughter. "What??"

Rei smirked at her. "Not that he isn't good-looking, Ami, but I would have known you'd fall for his brains first."

"Who said anything about falling? I'm not – I don't like him that way!" she insisted, turning as red as a tomato.

"Oh, well, that's a shame because you'll have to find a way to turn him down, then. From the way he looks at you, I'd say he's in for a big disappointment." She watched in satisfaction as more color came into Ami's cheeks. She had learned a few things, somewhat unwillingly, over the semester about pumping people for information on their crushes from her roommate.

"He doesn't like me," she said softly.

"How do you know?" Rei asked in a logical tone of voice.

Ami shrugged. "We're friends. We talk, and he likes someone right now. Anyway, he goes for beautiful blondes."

"Oh, Ami. You more beautiful than they could ever be. And I never like it when guys have a type," Rei declared loyally.

Ami smiled shyly. "Thank you."

* * *

The four of them hung out sometimes over winter break, and Ami felt much more comfortable with them than her friends at school. She found herself watching Zach more carefully after what Rei had said, but she couldn't see anything special in the way he looked at her. Once the holidays were over and Rei and Jaden were back at college, she figured Rei had been in the "honeymoon stage" of her relationship and seeing sparks – or smoke, more aptly – where there wasn't a fire.

As school picked up again, Ami and Zach basically fell back into their normal routine. Most of their acquaintances were on edge about the college decisions they wouldn't get until April. Much of the senior class had begun to slack off, confident that their senior grades didn't matter. Ami's study group continued to meet, with only slightly diminished attendance.

Zach came slightly less often, although he kept up with his work. The few times she questioned him about it, he closed up like a clam, so Ami gave up asking. It wasn't her way to push when people didn't want to talk, and he seemed to be doing fine. She figured that he just wanted to spend more time away from the study group, since he spent just as much time with her as he had previously.

She once wondered if he had a secret girlfriend he wasn't telling her about, but gossip traveled fairly fast in their school, and neither Leah nor anyone else had anything to say about Zach's love life. He continued to treat her as he always had, messing up her hair or putting his arm around her casually, especially when Greg joined them. But he did that even when they were alone.

* * *

One chilly morning, Zach dressed with extra care, wondering why he was so nervous. 'She's just a friend,' he reminded himself. 'And we hang out a lot. She'll say yes. And if she says no, it's no problem. I'll just…ask someone else. Like Christy.'

He hoped it wouldn't come to that, though. Christy was no longer his lab partner since they switched at the beginning of the semester, but she was remarkably persistent. The other girls had backed off once he had begun spending so much time with the unpopular members of Ami's study group.

He glanced at the clock and cursed loudly when he realized that the minute hand had jumped ten minutes ahead while he was primping. "I'm going to be late!"

He skimmed five miles over the speed limit and reached the school building just as the bell for first period rang. He sighed as he sidled in, incurring a stern look from Ms. Nichols, and noticed Ami in her seat – five rows away from him.

Class seemed to last for an eternity. He sprang out of his seat when the teacher dismissed them and made his way over to Ami. He tapped his foot, waiting impatiently until Leah finished talking to her. "Hey, Ames, can I talk to you?"

"Sure," she said, her forehead wrinkling in slight confusion.

Just then, Ms. Nichols looked up and called, "Ami, would you mind staying after a minute so we can talk about the Chess Club elections?"

"Of course." She looked back at Zach, who seemed unduly frustrated. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Fine. Catch you later."

* * *

There never seemed to be a good time to ask her. The halls were buzzing because it was the first day prom tickets were on sale. Class wasn't private enough, but he hadn't had the nerve to call her up and ask her over the phone.

Among their study group, opinions about prom were mixed. Some thought it was a waste of time and money, while others were actively stalking their potential dates. Some of the girls were together in a group. He hoped Ami hadn't already made arrangements with them, but so far, she hadn't seemed overly interested in prom. He wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Zach had already been asked to prom twice by the time he managed to track Ami down again, and he was feeling more than slightly stressed. The girls he had turned down had been alarmingly nosy about his date or lack thereof, and he didn't want to look like a fool if she turned him down and he had no one to go with.

He pushed his way through the crush of people on the staircase, with some annoyed yells of "Watch where you're going!" following him. He thought the bruises and curses were worth it when he saw Greg zeroing in on his quarry.

"AMI!" he yelled.

She turned pink as her name was called loudly. "What's going on? Why are you yelling my name?"

He smiled – bared his teeth, rather – at Greg, who was still quite a few feet away. "Sorry, sorry. It's just, I've been waiting to talk to you all day."

Ami looked at him quizzically. "Okay. Here I am, at your disposal. At least for the next ten minutes; I have to get to that Chess Club meeting."

He began to sweat. "Um. Okay. Good. Let's just… go for a walk."

"Zach, you–" She found herself being dragged down the hallway until he found an empty corridor. "What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing. Nothing, nothing." Zach smiled nervously at her. "So, uh… are you planning to go to prom?"

Ami's heartbeat jumped but she made herself calm down. 'He's just making small talk, leading into things. It always takes him awhile to get to the point. No reason to think he's going to ask you.'

"You pulled me out here to ask if I'm going to prom? Couldn't you have done this in Bio?"

He messed up his immaculately-styled hair in a second. "Argh! Just answer the question!"

She looked at him with some concern. "Are you…okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Please? Have some mercy?"

Ami eyed him warily. "Okay… I don't know if I'm going yet. Mom wants me to go, and Rei says it's fun. She says there aren't really many formals at college unless you're in a sorority, and I'm not planning to be."

"Who are you going with?" Zach demanded.

"Um… I don't know. Leah and the girls want me to go with them, but I actually think they have enough people to fill a table already. Marcus asked me but–"

"What?! Marcus asked you??"

Ami blinked at him, one hundred percent confused. "Yes, he asked me. What's your problem? You didn't think anyone would ask me to prom?" She had actually thought that herself, but having him think so hurt even more.

"What? No – that's not what I meant. What did you tell him?"

"It's none of your business."

Zach panicked and readied himself to grovel. "I'm sorry, Ami. I really didn't mean for it to come out that way. Please tell me?"

She looked at him coldly. "I have to get to my club, and I really don't see how this is so important."

He kept pace with her easily as she started walking away. "Please? Please, Ames. Otherwise I'll come in and disrupt your meeting. You know I'd do it."

She stopped short and glared at him. "Oh! You're so frustrating. I said no, all right? Why would I want to go to prom with Marcus? I'd have more fun if I went with the girls. Or stayed at home to watch_Jeopardy!_"

Zach beamed at her in relief. "Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Why would you say yes to Marcus."

"If I can go in now?" she asked too patiently.

"No, wait. I wanted to… uh… Well, are you–" He saw Greg coming towards them and the Chess Club room and asked rapidly, "Iwaswondering, would you go topromwithme?"

"Excuse me?" Ami asked, trying to decipher his babble.

He cleared his throat. "Will you go to prom with me?"

She blushed hotly until a terrible thought occurred to her. "Are you joking?"

"What? No!"

"Sorry… I just…really?"

Zach had thought he would end up asking her leaning casually against her locker, looking irresistible yet unconcerned, but he found himself standing as straight as he could, his eyes fixed on hers. "Yeah, really. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Good friends," she answered, starting to smile.

'Best friends,' he thought.

"So? Are you going to come with me, let me torment you the whole night?"

She laughed somewhat shakily. "All right. Since you ask so nicely."

"Awesome." He grinned back, then felt the need to reassert some distance between them. "So – club meeting. Don't want to hold you up. We'll work out the details later."

"Okay." She watched him stride away as if in full retreat, uncharacteristic giddiness rising within her.

She was slightly dazed all throughout the elections, although she did her best to listen closely to all the speeches. At the appropriate times, she soberly marked her ballot with thick, clear checks, even though she felt infinitely more bubbly inside.

The current board, which included Ami as its Vice President, stayed behind to count the ballots with their advisor once the elections were complete. After the results were recorded, the students began trickling out.

"Hey, Ami."

She looked back questioning. "Oh, hi, Greg. What's up?"

He cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. "Uh – I was wondering – would you be interested in going to prom with me?"

"I'm sorry, Greg. I already have a date."

"Oh, yeah. Of course. Sorry."

She gave him another sympathetic smile, then said she would see him tomorrow and headed to her car. She wasn't sure how she felt about having to give a second rejection in a day, but she was still buoyed from Zach's asking her. Smiling brightly despite the February chill, she thought hopefully, 'Maybe Rei was right after all.'

* * *


	7. Part III Chapter 4

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 3-4_

February and March seemed to pass in a blur. Ami was almost glad that the fuss over prom took her mind off college decisions – minimally. Rei had come home to help her pick out a dress over spring break, and Kira had taken time out of her busy schedule to come with them. That shopping excursion had been one of Ami's best memories from the year.

Another was the day she received her acceptance letter from Harvard. What seemed like ten seconds after she broke the seal and was staring at the stark printed words heralding her acceptance into her dream school, Zach's battered car pulled into a spot in the lot.

"Hey!" he called cheerfully, retrieving his own mail from where it was scattered across the front seat. "I heard Harvard decisions are out today."

She turned to him with shining eyes, and for an instant he was frightened that they had rejected her. But the smile broke across her face, as beautiful as the fragrant white flowers heavy on the dogwood trees that lined her drive. "Zach – I can't believe it!"

He bounded up the steps and snatched the letter from her, skimming it before catching her in a tight hug. "Congrats! I'm really happy for you. You must be so psyched."

"It's still sinking in."

"See? Didn't I tell you things would be fine?" he demanded, grinning as widely as she was.

Ami laughed giddily as she stepped away from him. "Don't let it get to your head."

"Uh huh. Always worried about deflating my ego."

"So are you going to open yours now?"

Zach glanced down in the direction of her gaze. "Oh, yeah. I didn't really check if the online decisions came out, and all these letters came in the mail today, so I thought I'd come over and open them with you."

He plopped himself down on the steps and starting ripping through the envelopes. Ami sat down on the step above him, glad that she was behind him now so he couldn't see the look on her face. She knew that if she said anything about his actions being sweet, he would deny it to his deathbed.

His voice determinedly casual, he said, "So tell me, which schools will be receiving the devastating news that you won't be matriculating in their illustrious institutions this fall?"

Ami glared at him, no longer feeling touched. With a sigh, she told him about the handful of first-tier schools that had also accepted her, and the other two which had wait-listed her. Then she prompted him, "Come on, it's your turn now. What do they say??"

Zach shrugged, putting the I-don't-care look on his face that she hated. "Oh, you know. I didn't have high hopes anyway. I should have stuck with just applying to safety schools instead of aiming at better schools. It was a waste of time and money. Rejected from all of them…"

"Oh, Zach." Her eyes began to swim with tears again, only they were sad this time.

"Except MIT."

He burst into laughter at the shocked expression on her face.

"You jerk!" It was said without too much heat though, and she continued, "I really can't believe it!"

Zach nodded, smiling at the pleasure that was evident in her eyes and voice. "Yeah, me neither. Guess they must have liked my mad computer science skills." Those were the only classes he had actually performed well in on a consistent basis.

Ami rolled her eyes. "They like it when your grades improve, and your teacher recommendations were strong. And your standardized test scores blew everyone else's away. Stop putting yourself down."

He smiled at her and tugged at a stray lock of hair. "But then you wouldn't compliment me anymore."

When she frowned at him and then smiled a second later, too happy to stay mad at him, he said, "Come on, let's go get ice cream to celebrate."

"Okay. Just let me put my backpack inside; I'll meet you in your car in a minute."

Zach strolled back to his car, whistling cheerfully while she let herself in.

As she slid into the passenger seat of his car, Ami smiled at him so warmly he felt an odd pressure in his chest. "Oh, this is so exciting! Your parents will be thrilled. And we'll be in Boston together, only ten minutes away from each other."

"Yeah. It'll be great." To tell the truth, he was kind of excited about it himself, but he wasn't going to show it.

Ami amended tentatively, "Well… I mean, not that we'll be seeing each other so often. Just once in awhile. If you want."

He rolled his eyes at her and made a rude gesture at the car that was tailgating him that made her squeak. "Chill, Ames. Have you not dedicated a good portion of this year to making sure I actually do my homework, and have I not committed myself to torturing you as often as possible?"

"Umm…"

"Are we friends or not?"

"Yes. We are."

"Going to college isn't going to change that."

* * *

Despite a slight feeling of restlessness, Ami considered the tail end of her senior year infinitely better than the months that had preceded it. She chased away some of the restlessness by keeping up with her grades, as usual, and surfing Harvard's website until she could navigate it effortlessly.

Prom snuck up on her on a rainy day in early June. Rei had insisted that she leave school early like most of the other girls to have her hair done. Mina, Rei's college roommate, was visiting and had promised to do Ami's make up. Mina had come to stay with Rei on breaks before since her parents lived in London, and she and Ami had also become close friends despite the fact that they seemed like polar opposites.

"I wish it weren't raining," Ami fretted as Rei and Mina fussed around her.

"I know, I know. But it's okay. It's supposed to clear up by the time you and Zach are supposed to head to Leah's house for the photos," Rei said encouragingly.

As she tested a shade of blusher on Ami's skin, Mina asked, "Zach _does_ know what color your dress is, right? And that he's supposed to get you a corsage?"

"It's a little late in the game for that," Rei said dryly before Ami could answer. "Don't worry about it. Jaden said he'll take care of it. He's been to proms before. He also said Zach is as vain as a peacock, so he'll be looking his best."

They all laughed as Ami confided, "He takes longer than I do to get ready in the morning. He's not late to first period because he oversleeps but because of the time it takes him to get his hair just right!"

Forty minutes later, Rei and Mina had Ami at the door, even managing to get a photo in with Kira, who had rushed back from the hospital.

"Ami, you look beautiful," Kira said, carefully touching her daughter's hair. Part of it was caught up in a softly-sparkling clip, while the majority of it fell in soft, silky waves to her shoulders. Ami had insisted that her hair be styled in a more natural look rather than the high pompadour or teased ringlets

"Where is Zach?" Rei demanded in a harassed voice. "He was supposed to be here ten minutes ago."

Mina patted her shoulder. "Calm down, Rei. They have plenty of time. I'm sure if there was a problem, he or Jaden would have called by now."

"Hmph" was all she said. But she couldn't help smiling as she looked over at Ami, who looked slightly nervous but very pretty.

"Rei? Are you sure I'm going to be able to walk in these heels?"

"You'll be fine, I promise. And you can take them off to dance," Rei assured her.

The blond-haired girl bounded away from the window to throw open the door. "They're here!"

Jaden got out of the car first while Zach trailed behind him a little awkwardly. "Hi, Dr. Mizuno," he said politely to Ami's mother, who he had met several times before.

"Took you long enough," Mina chided him, "Rei's been pacing for the past fifteen minutes."

He grinned at her, then kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. "Come on, have a little faith," he told her. "The kid needed a little man-to-man talk, if you know what I mean. I don't think I've ever seen him this nervous before."

Zach, who was in the process of greeting Ami's mother and being introduced to Mina, tugged at his collar nervously.

Jaden stepped over to him and knocked his hand away. "No touching."

"Hey–"

Sternly, his brother admonished, "You may be the god of hair, but you're ruining the line of this tux."

He only sulked for a minute because when he finally looked over at Ami, he felt his tongue tie itself into knots.

She smiled shyly at him. "You look nice."

Zach tried to gather his thoughts to say something coherent, but he ended up shoving the frosted plastic container at her. "Uh, here."

Ami opened it carefully as her mother exclaimed, "Oh, the corsage!" and came over to admire it. "It's lovely, Zach. A wonderful choice."

He smiled weakly, wishing he had been able to tell Ami that she was lovelier than the creamy flowers nestled among the dark green leaves and trailing silver ribbons. As she slid it onto her wrist, Mina opened the refrigerator and removed his boutonniere.

With a sly look in her eyes, the blonde said, "Okay, Ami, you have to put it on."

"What? I do?"

"Yes. It's tradition." Mina looked over at Rei and Jaden for confirmation, and they nodded – Jaden after Rei dug her heel into his foot.

"Ouch – yeah. Just don't stick him with the pin by accident," Jaden said, looking at Rei pointedly. They had recently gone to a formal event together at college, and she had pricked him lightly with the long pin.

Rei glared at him as Mina moved over to supervise a blushing Ami. "That wasn't by accident."

"What?!"

"You were looking down my dress!" she hissed at him, making sure her aunt was out of earshot.

Jaden smiled at the memory. "Oh. Yeah."

She smacked him on the arm just as Ami completed her ordeal and Zach, who had pasted a longsuffering look on his face, stepped away. "Ready to go?" he asked her.

"Wait! You can't go yet – we have to take more pictures!" Mina exclaimed, brandishing the camera with enough zeal to make everyone wince.

* * *

By the time they made it through the whirlwind of pre-prom activities, Ami could have sworn the spots in her vision from the camera flashes would never fade. Of course, they did, and she found herself enjoying herself until she caught the disdainful looks Christy and her friends were shooting her.

She excused herself before dessert came out and headed for the ladies' room. Once she was inside, she latched the door shut, thankful her dress wasn't as poofy as some of the other girls' dresses, which might have trouble fitting in the stalls.

A moment later, Christy and her friend Laura came in, chattering loudly as they fixed their lipstick.

Ami sighed, wondering if she would be able to make it out of the bathroom before fifteen minutes elapsed. She resigned herself to listening them give each other saccharinely sweet yet backhanded compliments and criticize other girls' choices of dress, hairstyle, shoes, and even prom dates. The number of times she heard "EW, I can't believe he's here with HER" or "She's _way_ too pretty for him" exceeded the number of fingers she had.

Finally, Christy smiled maliciously as she said, "And did you see that Zach is here with Ami? How bogus is that?" She not only recognized that pair of white heels in the third stall, but she had also seen Ami going into the restroom and dragged Laura in after her.

Laura glanced at her uncertainly. "Well, they're always hanging out now. It wasn't really that much of a surprise."

"I know, but it's weird that he would want to spend so much time with her. She's so boring, and her looks are just – blah."

To Christy's irritation, her friend just shrugged. "She looks all right tonight. Much better than that mousy friend of hers, what's her name? Lane? Lena?"

"I don't care about her friend, I was talking about Zach! He could do so much better than her."

Laura sighed, bored with the way Christy's conversation always seemed to circle back to Zach. "Okay, whatever. Besides, I don't see what you're so steamed about. It's not like they're going out, are they? I heard they were just going as friends."

She smiled now, seeing that she had her opening. "Duh. As if that would ever happen. Who would want to go out with Ami? She's not pretty at all, and she's such a brain. Who knows if she could even find another nerd like her at Harvard? Zach probably just feels sorry for her. I bet he can't wait to ditch her when he goes to college."

Laura rolled her eyes, knowing that Christy just wanted to make herself feel better. She didn't hear that hurt gasp from the stalls that Christy did. As they left the restroom, she retorted rudely, "So what if it's true? What would you do about it anyway? It's not like _you_ got into MIT."

Ami didn't hear Laura's parting shot, and it was doubtful whether that would have made her feel better. She drew back the lock with trembling fingers, certain that the room was empty now. She walked up to the mirror and examined her reflection carefully: her face was so white that her eyes looked larger and darker than normal, but she wasn't crying.

She knew better to let Christy's harsh words get to her, had heard enough of the same thing over the past year. But it hadn't been quite so direct, hadn't hit home quite as much as it did this night. It hurt her that someone who would say such nasty things about her, had even bothered to think of them in the first place.

She knew that many, if not all, the things Christy had said weren't true. She had more faith in her friendship with Zach. But Ami felt that much more hopeless about her crush on Zach, the one that she hadn't even been able to admit to herself.

When she stepped out of the ladies' room, she was surprised to see Zach lurking in the hallway with his hands stuffed in his pockets as he pretended to examine a vase of flowers. His eyes lit up when he saw her, relieved that she seemed just the same as always. "Hey."

"Hi. Sorry I was gone so long. Have they started the dancing?"

"Yeah."

Seeing the concern in his eyes, Ami said quickly, "Well, come on. Didn't you say you were going to teach me to dance?"

He grinned as she reminded him of his flippant remark a few weeks back. "So I did." After they made their way onto the crowded dance floor, he raised his eyebrows and said, "I may have to change my mind."

"What?" she said loudly, trying to hear him over the music.

Zach moved closer to her. "I said, I may have to change my mind. Maybe you have a few things to teach me – where did you learn to dance like this?"

Ami's blush was invisible in the dim lighting of the room, but her pearly teeth gleamed as she smiled shyly. "Mina and Rei taught me."

"They're good teachers."

She jolted, realizing how close he was and that his mouth was right by her ear. His arms kept her in place as he said, "I didn't get a chance to tell you before, but you look really beautiful, Ami."

As she looked up at him, so startled but hoping against hope again, Zach had a feeling he knew what that funny feeling he had started to get whenever they hung out together was.

'I really care about her,' he realized, his heart pounding as they switched to a slow dance and her hands clasped behind his neck hesitantly.

'I don't want her to forget about me when we go to college. I don't think I'll ever meet anyone like her again, and I don't think I want to.'

But as he looked down into her open, trusting face, he felt the icy fingers of fear run up his spine and his heart close off again. He couldn't bring himself to tell her tonight, wondering if his words would wipe that soft smile off her face.

* * *

"So? How was it?" Rei prodded, having stayed up watching movies and eating ice cream with Mina while they waited for Ami to return. Ami's friends weren't keen on after prom activities, and she was happy enough to join Rei and Mina in their sleepover.

"It was really fun," Ami answered, flushing slightly as she remembered the feeling of Zach's arms around her while they danced. He had seemed to withdraw slightly towards the end of the night, become a bit quieter than usual, but he had chalked it up to tiredness.

He had seemed perfectly normal as he'd gotten into his car to drive home, flashed her that cheeky grin of his, and rolled down his window to tell her not to spend all night thinking about how much dreamier he was than Einstein.

Mina and Rei proceeded to drag all the details out of Ami, which she eventually provided – she talked about everything except the conversation she had overheard in the bathroom.

"Did he kiss you?"

"Rei!!"

"What? The answer is either 'yes' or 'no.' How could it be anything else?" Rei demanded.

"No!" she squeaked.

Mina and Rei exchanged exasperated looks that plainly meant "Stupid boy" and "I know."

"So…when are you going to tell him you like him, Ames?" Mina asked, unwrapping a piece of candy and popping it in her mouth.

Ami turned red. "Um…I don't…" She still wasn't sure of herself, still wondered if anyone would find her attractive, especially after overhearing Christy's words. But the look in Zach's eyes when they had danced that night seemed to tip the balance in her favor. Unless she was reading things wrong, which she was terribly afraid was the case.

Rei, who was sure that Zach liked her back despite the time it was taking him to grow up and confront his feelings, said scathingly, "You'd think that with a brother as persistent as Jaden, Zach could just get his act together and ask you."

Mina laughed lightly. "Don't be so old-fashioned, Rei. Sometimes the girl can do the asking."

"Old-fashioned? Me? I'll have you know, Mina Aino, that I am not old-fashioned."

Ami watched them bicker with a fond smile on her face, glad the spotlight was off of her.

"…oh yeah? So when you're flirting with Kenneth all the time and waiting forever to ask him out, I'm sure that's not being old-fashioned. Positively the height of modernity."

Only slightly ruffled, Mina replied, "Oh, he'll come around. You'll see."

Sometime just before dawn, as they were drifting off to sleep, Rei murmured sleepily, "If you want to, you should go for it, Ami." She reached out tiredly to link her fingers through Ami's and gave her hand a quick squeeze. "I promise I'll stop bothering you about it now, though."

Ami smiled, even though she knew Rei's eyes were closed. "Maybe I will. Thank you, Rei."

She stayed awake a little longer, letting the possibilities run through her mind, but soon fell into a sound sleep.

* * *


	8. Part III Chapter 5

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 3-5_

"Ami, I'm trying to tell you… I mean, I've been meaning to tell you for a long time now, oh, to hell with it." Zach kicked the rock that was Ami's stand in, then spent another minute hopping around clutching his toes.

He leveled a hostile glare at the rock, which hadn't budged an inch. "Sheesh, okay. If I'd known you'd take it so bad…"

He groaned in frustration, unaware that a couple miles away, Ami was rehearsing similar lines to a weeping willow.

* * *

She spoke directly to the silvery gray bark of the tree trunk without a hint of a smile on her face.

"Zach, we've been friends for some time now, and I had a really good time at prom. And I was wondering… I wanted to tell you that I…"

Ami buried her face in her hands. It was always at this point that she found herself unable to go on. She checked her watch for the time and felt herself growing faint when she realized that she didn't have any more time to practice. She had promised to meet Zach at the park which was within walking distance of both of their houses at three, and it was already 2:58.

When she reached the entrance to the park, slightly out of breath, he was already waiting for her.

As she approached, she could have sworn he mumbled, "Just between you and me, Rock, what are my chances?"

She chose to ignore this oddity, however, and smiled at him nervously.

Zach managed to indicate a random path, and they started past the children screaming on the swing set, each steeling themselves to begin.

"Ami, I–"

"Zach, there's–"

They stopped and laughed at each other. "Okay, you first."

Ami said firmly, "No, you go first. You started speaking first." When he started to protest, she cut him off. "I won't say another word unless you start talking."

He sighed. "I never should have gotten you started on that speaking your mind crap. If only you were still shy and obedient."

She glared at him. "Too late for that. Go on."

"Okay. So. Well…there's this…thing I've been meaning to tell you for awhile about."

Her pulse skipped a couple of beats, but she made herself smile and nod innocuously. "All right. What's on your mind?"

Zach trained his eyes on the packed dirt of the path. "Well, there's this program I was interested in doing. Actually, it's with an NGO working in South America. I applied, and they've agreed to take me." Now his head lifted, and she could see that his eyes were bright and excited.

She smiled, somewhat confused. "That's wonderful. Wow, South America. Is it for the summer? Why haven't you told me about it before?"

He shook his head. "Well, the thing is, it's – it's not just a summer. It's for a whole year." Even as the smile faded from her face, he forged on determinedly. "I'm taking a year off before college."

"What?" Ami whispered. "Taking a year off?"

"I really, really want to do this, Ami. You have to understand." He looked at her pleadingly. "This is really important to me. They have these laboratories they're setting up, which are beyond cool, but they're also working on providing healthcare services because the government infrastructure is so weak there…

"It's a really great opportunity," he finished up. "Usually they only take college students, and upperclassmen at that, but they've agreed to take me, too. And it's legit. I've checked it out and everything, been through it with my parents and some of the teachers a million times."

Ami just looked at him, trying to push past the feeling of betrayal and listen to the passion in his voice. Clearly, he had put a great deal of thought and work into these plans. 'So that's where he's been disappearing off to instead of going to study sessions,' she realized. With a pang, she wondered whether she had ever heard that degree of enthusiasm in his words before.

But why hadn't he ever mentioned this to her? Weren't they close friends? Hadn't he sworn that he was thrilled about going off to college with her? Did she even know him as well as she thought she had?

"But – why can't you do this later? What are you going to do about college? I thought you were set on going to MIT."

He felt his stomach clenching. The talk wasn't going the way he wanted it to. "I'm going to defer enrollment for a year. I've already applied for it, but I haven't heard back from them yet. It doesn't matter, Ami. Even if they don't take me, another school will take me when I get back."

"That is so irresponsible! What about all the work you put in this year, getting your grades up? Are you just throwing that away? And your parents, they were so proud of you for getting into such a great school. This is just selfish." Ami couldn't stop the hard words from pouring out of her mouth, but she felt so disappointed, and so frightened that he was leaving her behind.

"It's not irresponsible or selfish! So I worked hard, and I'll work hard when I come back. I already told my parents, and they'll stand by me. Why can't you? I want to do this! Why can't you understand that?" he demanded, hearing his voice rise in temper.

"I thought you wanted to go to MIT," she said quietly.

"I did! But not right now. That's what _you_ want – going to a top school, probably the best school in the nation, and taking the pre-med track until you get into another top school. I want to break out of the mold and stop following everyone else. I want to get out and see the world."

Ami felt the bitterness welling up in her throat as she asked, "So you think I'm just some goody-two-shoes, fitting the mold, doing what's expected of me? Am I too boring for you, Zach?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I just – come on, Ami!" he tried.

The fear that he was making a mistake, that he was losing her friendship was swamping him. The fact that he had wanted her to support him so badly made her anger and incomprehension sting.

"Don't make this about you." He wished he could take back the words as soon as he said them when he saw her turn pale, but he couldn't. So he plunged on, trying to fix it.

"This is my dream, just like med school is yours. My way isn't yours. It's not better, it's just different. I didn't mean to say otherwise."

She felt the tears start to burn at the corners of her eyes. She wanted him to stop spewing those placating words that only hurt more.

Her silence gnawed at him, frustrated him beyond belief. "Why are you being so stubborn? Why can't you just be happy for me?"

_Because you're leaving me_, she wanted to say. _Because you didn't tell me, and it's hurting me so much now. Because I thought you were going to tell me you liked me, too, but instead, I feel like I hardly know you. _

But she didn't say any of those things. Instead, she held back her tears and stared at him coolly. "Because I think you're doing the wrong thing."

She turned and walked away from him as quickly as she could.

He stood still, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets like always, only they were shaking. He didn't go after her, and she didn't come back. It wasn't until later that he remembered she had wanted to tell him something, too.

* * *

They didn't speak to each other for the rest of the school year, which only had two weeks left in it. Zach stopped coming to study group, and they stared coldly away from each other in the classes they shared.

At graduation, Rei took pictures with Ami and of Ami with Kira, her friends, and even Jaden. But there were no pictures of Ami and Zach together.

No matter how hard Rei and Jaden tried, neither of them could get Ami and Zach to reconcile or even talk about what they had fought about.

A few days after graduation, Zach's parents drove him to the airport so he could catch a flight to Buenos Aires. Jaden kept glancing at his cell, hoping to see a text from Rei confirming that Ami would be coming to the airport.

No such luck. Zach himself was dawdling at the gate, glancing around as if he hoped to spot that familiar head of dark hair. His regret was stronger than ever now, but he couldn't wait any longer and finally readied himself to pass through the gate.

As he rechecked his boarding pass, there was a small commotion as a girl raced headlong towards them. His heart squeezed painfully until he realized that her hair was too long. He tried to smile at her but couldn't quite pull it off. "Hey, Rei."

"Hey. I'm sorry – I'm late," she amended at the last minute, figuring it would be a bad idea to mention Ami's name.

He shrugged. "It's okay. Thanks for coming to see me off."

His hope, so bitterly crushed again, disappeared. Ami had never spoken to him that way before, looked at him so coolly, as she had the last time they had spoken. It had been silly to think she would just forgive him and come to the airport today.

As he passed through the gate with a jaunty wave to his parents, Jaden put his arm around Rei. "Too stubborn, both of them," he remarked sadly.

Rei nodded, trying to smile and wave at Zach even as the corners of her mouth threatened to turn downwards. "Look who's talking," she tried.

Back at home, Ami wiped a few last tears from her eyes. She ignored the shrilling of the telephone and even Rei when she came in and tried to speak to her again. She only lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling dully. But eleven hours later, her computer screen confirmed that Zach's plane had landed safely in Argentina.

* * *

In August, Ami's mother drove her and Rei to Boston, where they settled Ami into her freshman dorm. She met her roommate, a blond-haired girl who liked to wear her shiny blond hair in two buns on the top of her head and who had a heart and an appetite huge enough to belie her tiny size. She found her classes just difficult enough to be challenging but maintained a phenomenal G.P.A.

One time, which she later explained away as a moment of weakness, she tried to send a letter to the address Zach had left with his family, the address for the NGO's South American branch. There was no response.

* * *


	9. Part IV Chapter 1

_Ami 25 Serena 25_

_Lita 26 Rei 26_

_Mina 26 Jaden 27 _

_Kenneth 29 Zach 25_

_Nevan 26_

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 4-1 _

He had given her white roses and poetry on their first date.

She tried to remind herself of such things when she felt like doing unspeakable things to him with surgical scalpels.

Ami had graduated from Harvard in three years and received her M.D. from that top medical school Zach had said she would graduate from. She was currently in her first year of residency, training as a specialist in pediatric medicine with a subspecialty in pediatric oncology and hematology. All that, and here she was on her first day off in longer than she wanted to remember, arguing with her longtime boyfriend-turned-fiancé.

They maintained an icy silence as they sat in the breakfast nook, he with a leather-bound volume of Keats and she on her laptop, browsing the latest issue of _The New England Journal of Medicine_ online. In truth, Ami would have preferred reading the latest novel at the top of the bestseller list or the trashy romance novel she had hidden in her nightstand drawer, but she knew that her perusal of work-related material on her day off would irritate Taiki.

It was driving her up the wall that she was being so petty and, at the same time, denying herself the pleasure of reading lighter material. She glanced surreptitiously at Taiki, who appeared calm and unruffled. One long, elegant hand held the book, and the fingers of the other hand closed lightly around the handle of his coffee cup. But she could tell that his jaw was clenched more tightly and his brow furrowed more deeply than usual, and it gave her a small sense of satisfaction that he was as irked as she was.

It was enough to put her in a more charitable mood, and she closed the article containing the latest updates on methicillin-resistant_Staphylococcus aureus_, better known by its acronym, MRSA. "Did you have plans for today?" she asked lightly, shutting the lid of her laptop and unplugging the power source.

His only reaction was a negligible shake of the head, and his pale lavender eyes didn't move from the page.

"Well, I was wondering if you might be interested in accompanying me to the mall. I haven't gotten a dress for the wedding reception yet."

Another pause, another page turned. Finally, he closed the book and said nonchalantly, "All right," and rose to retrieve his wallet, shoes, and jacket.

Ami rolled her eyes, deciding to forfeit the battle over the car keys. By the time she had returned with her purse and shoes, he already had the engine started. She slid into the passenger seat and folded her hands primly. It was such a nice day, she thought wistfully, just about time for spring to break the freezing grip of winter. Even Ami, who loved the snow, was ready for warmth.

The tense silence in the car alerted her that while her overture may have broken the ice between them, she still wasn't forgiven. But once they reached the mall, he behaved with perfect aplomb, opening doors for her solicitously and complimenting her on her appearance as she selected and discarded dresses.

By the time they stopped to break for lunch, they were chatting quite amiably about politics, books, and their families. Ami was quite familiar with Taiki's two brothers, Seiya and Yaten, and he was reasonably well-acquainted with Rei and Ami's mother, Kira. Even as he laughed quietly as Ami told him about one of her friend Mina's recent exploits, his wary eyes remained smooth at the corners instead of crinkled with amusement. They avoided any mention of their jobs.

* * *

The next day, Ami found herself grabbing a quick meal with her cousin, her roommate from college, and her cousin's roommate from college, verbally dissecting her fiancé.

"I can't believe he said that to you!" Mina cried, outraged.

As she gestured angrily, the lustrous canary diamond on her left ring finger sparkled. She was twenty six now, having modeled through college and earned a master of fine arts, and working her way up to editor-in-chief of one of the most highly-regarded magazines in the fashion world. A year ago, she had married Kenneth, who she had eventually managed to coax into asking her out sometime during their college years and who had his own flourishing career as an attorney at law.

Rei nodded vigorously, her violet eyes flashing dangerously as she contributed to the vilification of Taiki Kou, Ami's fiancé. She too had a brilliant ring on her finger, minus the wedding band that was on Mina's finger. She and Jaden had continued dating throughout college and managed to get jobs in the same area.

Her interesting choice of a Religious Studies and Political Science double-major in college had landed her a job with a marketing company, while Jaden had studied Economics and been hired for a fairly lucrative position as a consultant for nonprofit organizations. He had proposed to Rei just after Mina and Kenneth's wedding the previous year, and their wedding was coming up in a couple of months.

Ami sighed, wishing she had refrained from pouring out her troubles over lunch. She was starting to lose her appetite, and she had a particularly long shift to look forward to. It was just a little humiliating to be sitting here with Rei and Mina, who were extremely supportive but also extremely happy with their significant others, while she and Taiki had fought regularly for the past half year.

Watching Ami pick at her salad, Serena stopped shoveling in her sauce-drowned pasta and wiped her lips neatly with her napkin. "Come on, guys. I know it sounds awful, but he's just… Taiki's always been a little emotionally retarded."

"I'll say," Rei muttered.

Serena continued, "He has a hard time saying what he feels. I'm sure it just came out the wrong way, and you guys will make up soon."

She smiled encouragingly at Ami. Serena was the only one of the them who was currently single, although it didn't seem to bother her. She continued to assure her friends of her complete faith that one day, she would meet her prince charming. In the meantime, she was working as a genetic counselor at the same hospital as Ami.

Mina shrugged noncommittally in response to Serena's optimism. "Well, you'd know best." Serena, along with Ami's other close friend from college, Nevan, knew Taiki the best. Even Rei hadn't interacted much with Taiki, but Mina had spent the least time with him.

"Guys." Ami's quiet but firm voice halted the debate, and the other three women looked at her questioningly. "I'm fine. I appreciate what you're saying, and for letting me vent, but like Serena says, it's just a little bump."

She tried to kill two birds with one stone, changing the subject and assuaging her guilt about being absent from so many of Rei's wedding preparations. "Rei, how are things working out with the caterer?"

As Rei readily launched into her tirade about the infuriating incompetence she had been subjected to, Serena gave Ami's hand a light squeeze under the table.

The two of them walked back to the hospital together as Mina and Rei returned to their respective workplaces. Ami was happy to let Serena chatter about her job, her parents' recent move to the West Coast, and all the trouble her younger brother Sammy was getting up to in college. She let herself be soothed by the words, only needing to nod, smile, or laugh at the appropriate times.

As they passed through the glass doors to the main wing of the hospital and were about to go their separate ways, Serena asked, "When are you off today?"

Ami shook her head ruefully. "I'm on call overnight. What about you?"

Serena made a face of sympathy. "Poor Ames. I'll be out by six. Well, you call me anytime if you want to talk about anything, okay?"

She smiled back gratefully, appreciating her friend's less intrusive show of support. "Thanks Serena, I'll be sure to do that."

* * *

A few months ago, Rei and Jaden had first sat down to flesh out the details of their wedding more thoroughly, the latter more reluctant than the former. Rei wasn't a fan of fuss and frills anymore than Jaden was, but she was determined to have things go perfectly. After all, she was planning to get married only once in her lifetime.

"So of course Mina and Kenneth can walk together…but what about your other groomsmen? I need someone to walk with Serena."

Jaden shrugged. For all that he got along well with just about everybody, he didn't have many close male friends besides Kenneth, Zach, and Ami's friend from college who had recently been introduced to him, Nevan. "Well, then, how about Nevan?"

"Okay, that's fine."

As Jaden fidgeted and Rei made a few notes about approximate sizes and contact information, a sudden thought struck her.

"Oh, no! I can't believe I didn't think about this before," she cried in genuine distress.

"What? What's wrong?" Jaden asked anxiously.

"Is Zach going to be your best man?"

Jaden blinked at her, running a hand through his short blond hair. "Uh, yeah. Of course. Who else? I mean, he's my brother."

Rei rolled her eyes. "But Ami's going to be my maid of honor. They'll have to walk down the aisle together, and basically spend the entire day together. How is that going to work out?"

He frowned. "I don't think it'll be pretty, but if we break it to them beforehand, I'm sure they'll be able to handle it. They're mature adults. Sort of."

She threw up her hands and began pacing around the room, her raven black hair swirling around her in a way Jaden found infinitely fascinating. "No, no! You don't get it. Ami still hasn't gotten over it."

"What? Are you kidding? It's been eight years!" Despite his incredulous tone, Jaden realized that Zach never mentioned Ami, either.

His fiancée glared at him. "Don't be so oblivious. Haven't you noticed that whenever there's something at your house and Zach makes it home, Ami makes it a point to not to go? Or that Zach only comes to visit us when it's just the two of us, or even the two of us and Aunt Kira, but never when Ami's here?"

He groaned. "Why do they have to be so complicated? And immature? Come on, Rei, it's been eight years!"

"You're one to talk about being immature. Besides, I don't think they actively hate each other… They just have this unfortunate and truly inconvenient desire to stay out of each other's paths."

Jaden sighed, wondering how much more he could complain without provoking Rei's wrath. In the immediate aftermath of Ami and Zach's broken friendship and following many unsuccessful efforts to reconcile them, Rei and Jaden had needed to come to some kind of truce and rarely talked about the fight and whose side they were on.

Jaden had a bit of trouble figuring that out himself. He had come to love – and tease – Ami as if she were his younger sister, and he had to admit that he could see where Zach had made a couple of mistakes. But Jaden, who was engaged to what had to be one of the most stubborn women in the universe, had a harder time appreciating that trait in others.

"Well, they'll have to deal with it. I'll talk to Zach about it; you talk to Ami. If either of them feels like they're not up to it, then we switch it up a little. I'm sure if one of them feels that strongly about it, they won't mind giving up best man or maid of honor. If worst comes to worst, Zach can escort Serena, and Ami can walk with Nevan."

Rei worried her lip. "I guess so. Well, there's nothing else we can do about it now. So about the photography… I was thinking we could ask Yaten – you know, Taiki's younger brother – to handle it. He runs his own studio now, and it's very classy. Ami showed me some really stunning pictures he took of her and Taiki at a family event."

At this point, Jaden subsided and made agreeable noises, letting his mind wander and content to let Rei handle the thornier details.

* * *

It was late at night when he let himself into his apartment, not quite drooping with exhaustion. In fact, he was brimming with fervor as he tossed his leather jacket carelessly onto a chair and dumped the rest of his belongings on his bed. He immediately headed for his desk, stopping only to check his cell phone. Two voicemails. He decided they could wait, and opened his books and laptop.

Within minutes, he was lost in his research, a mug of tea cooling at his elbow. When the phone rang shrilly, he ignored it, wishing he could unplug the nuisance. The last time Rei had been in his apartment, an experience he was sure neither of them wanted to repeat anytime soon, she had deplored the mess and the fact that his phone was unplugged.

"What will you do if there's an emergency?" she had asked him. "You never answer your cell phone, and you barely remember to check your voicemail. At least this way we'll have another way to reach you, although who knows if you'll bother to check that."

Zach spared a moment to smile at the memory. It was interesting having a surrogate older sister. She nagged more than Jaden did, but he didn't mind the occasional fussing, provided that it was indeed occasional.

He returned to his work as the machine clicked on. "Hey, this is Zach. I'm not in, so leave me a message and I'll get back to you. Eventually. It'll help if you leave your name and phone number too because I'm not so great with those."

To his surprise, his brother's voice came out of the machine following the beep. "Hey, pipsqueak. It's me, so answer the phone. Rei and I were talking, and–"

Zach froze, his hand hovering over the receiver. Was it safe to answer, or should he put it off until another day? "Rei and I were talking" was never a good way to start off a conversation with his brother.

"–she's fussing over this wedding stuff all the time; it's driving me nuts. So are you going to be my best man or what?"

Deciding he was safe, Zach picked up the phone. "Hey."

Jaden grumbled at him, "Where were you, in the john or something? What took you so long?"

"I just got through the door. Besides, Rei is scary. Any mention of her makes me and my apartment cringe. It hasn't recovered from the last time she cleaned it."

Jaden grinned at that, his amusement coming through the line easily. "Yeah, well, I don't think she has, either. I can't believe you're even more of a slob than I am."

"Whatever," Zach shot back, "I'm not the one who's whipped."

"Yeah." Sparing a moment for extremely short-lived regret, Jaden transitioned smoothly, "Well, speaking of being whipped, are you going to be my best man or not?"

"Of course. I'm hurt you even had to ask," Zach retorted, putting on an aggrieved tone. "I'm going to throw you the raunchiest bachelor party ever, too."

His brother laughed somewhat nervously. "Great. Just make sure Rei doesn't kill me before we exchange our vows. But, uh, you see…there's something I should talk to you about first before we embark on those grand and glorious times."

Zach propped his feet up on his desk. "Yeah? I'm not sure I like the sound of that, Jaden. Spit it out."

"Okay. So you're my best man, right? Mina and Keth are going to be one of the couples, and Serena and Nevan are going to be the other. I'm kind of grateful Rei only wants two bridesmaids."

"Uh huh. While this may be enthralling to you, it isn't to me."

Jaden continued, "You're my brother, so I want you to be there with me as my best man. This is going to be a really important day for me."

He replied, "I get that. So what's going to stop me from being there?"

"Well, Rei doesn't have a sister."

"Uh huh." Zach had a sinking feeling he knew where this was going.

"She does have a cousin, though."

Lightly, he responded, "I thought Rei had several cousins. All black-haired and almost as attractive as she is."

Jaden glared at the opposite wall. "Yeah, well, she's really close to this one cousin. Ami. Sound familiar? She wants Ami to be her maid of honor."

Zach groaned loudly, trying to ignore the way his body tensed at the sound of her name. "Aw, Jaden."

"I can't do anything about it. What do you want me to do about it? It's her wedding, too, and she's as close to Ami as we are to each other." Jaden spoke quickly, trying to convince his brother not to back out. "You don't even really need to talk to her. Just walk her down the aisle for the ceremony, and then you're done."

"I seem to recall things like the rehearsal dinner and the reception requiring some minimal contact between the maid of honor and the best man."

Jaden sighed, trying his last card. "Come on, Zach, I need you there."

Silence. Then Zach capitulated. "All right. One best man with all the works, right here."

"Thanks. I knew I could count on you."

The relief and renewed happiness in his brother's voice made Zach feel slightly guilty that he had been on the verge of considering backing out. But only considering. He focused suddenly on Jaden's words again when he caught Ami's name.

"…and really, you won't be talking that much to Ami. We'll seat her with her fiancé–"

"Wait," Zach cut in, "she's got a fiancé now?"

"Oh, yeah. Guy named Taiki Kou, he's a columnist for the _New York Times_. Maybe you've read his work if you ever crawl out of that hole you call your office to read the news?"

Zach made a face. He knew Taiki…or had read his work. He had considered it fairly objective reporting, if very detached on the emotional front, and solid and well-written. But he was now having the funny urge to condemn it as trash.

Instead, he drawled, "That hole you refer to holds great sentimental value to me, Jaden. But if all goes well, I'll be giving it up in another two years for a bigger office."

Jaden laughed. "Cocky, aren't you? Getting that Ph D is going to make you insufferable."

"Count on it," Zach replied smoothly. "But before I get there, and to that bigger office, I have to finish my dissertation. So let me get to that, and you go back to planning out the wedding of your dreams with Rei. Night." He hung up on Jaden even as he felt his brother wincing on the other end.

Although he returned to his desk, he found himself jittery and unable to work after his phone conversation with Jaden. As he threw down his pen and got up to pace the room, he blamed it on the unbelievable amount of coffee he had consumed earlier in the day, but he knew it wasn't really the coffee that was to blame for his unsettled mood.

When he finally fell asleep after tossing and turning for hours under rumpled sheets, Zach dreamed of ocean-hued eyes and a sad, wistful smile.

* * *


	10. Part IV Chapter 2

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 4-2_

A few weeks after they had lunch together, Ami found herself sitting between Mina and Serena again, this time at Rei's bridal shower. It was three weeks before the wedding. Rei was surrounded by several of her more zealous girl friends from work and college, although Ami was close at hand and Kira was chatting with Eileen Coruni at the adjacent table.

Ami was completely exhausted, having come from a thirty-hour shift with only ten hours to spare before her next shift at the hospital. She had spent five of those sleeping, and three of those helping Mina and Serena set up the bridal shower. The work she had put in today, assembling the gifts, dainty favors for the guests, and candles and floral arrangements on the table, went a little way towards assuaging her guilt at not having more of a hand in the wedding preparations.

Rei always brushed it off, saying how much she appreciated what Ami was doing and she knew Ami was incredibly busy with her residency. Anyway, Ami reminded herself, Mina not only had more free time on her hands, but she was also much better at orchestrating social events than she was. The shower was beautiful and had come together without a hitch, and sensible Rei was even tearing slightly.

"What I don't understand is what you guys keep fighting about," Mina said in an undertone. She smiled gaily and complimented the current gift-giver on her choice of a delicate porcelain tea set.

"Mina, not at the shower, please!" Ami hissed, pasting a smile on her face as Rei glanced over at them.

For once, Serena said, "She can't possibly hear us from here."

Ami sighed. "Don't we have anything to do? Look, Mina, she's opening your present."

"Come on, tell us what you got her," Serena urged, never one to be patient.

"You'll see in a minute," Ami reasoned as Rei's perfect fingernails undid the tape at the corners.

Serena complained, "But she's being so slow about it."

"Let the bride enjoy her day," Mina said, waving her hand lazily. "I got her lingerie that's sure to drive Jaden insane."

True to her word, Rei pulled something black and lacy out of the box and blushed as all the women surrounding her giggled and cheered. "Gee, thanks, Mina," she said dryly.

"No problem! I'm sure you'll put it to good use, but just this once, don't share the details with me." As Rei turned to the next present, Mina smiled in satisfaction and continued prodding Ami. "Come on, Ames. I really don't get it. It's so rare that it's the guy who wants to get married while the girl is dragging her heels. If you don't like him, you wouldn't have agreed to his proposal."

Serena smiled. "It was a pretty romantic proposal."

Mina demanded the details, even though she had heard the story before about how Taiki had proposed on the day of Ami's graduation from medical school.

"It is sweet," Mina said, "and you guys do seem to make a nice couple. All studious and serious and everything, and he's very attentive."

Ami smiled at her description. Mina had been surprised when her matchmaking skills hadn't been required to find Ami a boyfriend, and while she had never been exactly keen on Taiki, she was always a good friend to Ami. If Ami wanted the guy, Mina would do everything possible on her part to make it work.

"How did the two of you meet again?"

Ami laughed and protested, "It's Rei's day to shine, we should be talking about how she met Jaden!"

Serena complied willingly with her suggestion and began relating the familiar story Rei and Ami had told her of how they had met at the beach for the first time over a decade ago and found each other again when Jaden was a sophomore in college and Rei a freshman.

Ami smiled as the others listened, enthralled, and Rei added her input when appropriate – or when she felt Serena was over embellishing the romantic aspects of the tale. Even as she appeared to be listening and enjoying the account, her mind drifted back to her college days, when she met her own fiancé.

* * *

In her first year of college, shaky from the collapse of her friendship with Zach, she had been dazzled by what college had to offer. She loved the sprawling stone buildings and exploring Boston with her roommate, Serena, and the equally bubbly friends Serena seemed to amass without difficulty. However, she soon she buckled down and pursued her studies in earnest, spending hours on end in the library or the lab where she worked in preparation for medical school.

She had taken the writing seminar as part of her graduation requirements and not paid much attention to the brown-haired boy with the sharp, clear eyes and eloquent arguments.

_One late night in the library, however, she was dozing off over her biology textbook when he tapped her shoulder. She jolted awake and looked into his eyes, which were an intriguing shade of lavender. _

"_I'm sorry to have disturbed you," he said smoothly, "but you dropped this before."_

_He held out one of the loose sheets of paper that had fallen from her notebook onto the carpet, a detailed diagram of the endocrine system._

_"Oh, I didn't even realize I had lost it. Thank you so much for returning it to me," Ami replied sincerely, adjusting her thin-framed spectacles._

_Taiki looked at her a moment, taking in her slender figure, the rosy flush in her cheeks, and the books and notebooks piled around her, before he smiled back. "My pleasure. I'm Taiki. Taiki Kou."_

_"I'm Ami Mizuno-Anderson. It's a mouthful, I know," she said ruefully, having discovered this quickly when she had needed to make dozens of introductions in a day during orientation. "It's nice to meet you."_

_"Likewise. Do you mind if I take this seat?" He indicated the empty seat across from her. "I'm afraid that all the other tables on this floor are full."_

_"Please go ahead," she said, clearing her books away._

_"I don't want to put you to any trouble, and I don't need much space." Trying to stop her from rearranging her books, which seemed likely to fall and crush them imminently, Taiki said, "But we've met before, you know."_

_Ami glanced up curiously . "Have we?"_

_He smiled gently. "Oh yes. Last semester, we took a writing seminar with Professor Johnson. Tuesdays and Thursdays, nine o'clock to ten-thirty."_

_"Oh, of course! I'm so sorry I didn't remember."_

_"It's not a problem. I hardly remembered myself… with so many people here, it's hard to keep track of everyone. Easy to get lost in the crowd."_

_"Yes." Her expression was sad for a moment. She was very close to her roommate, but she still felt lonely, still found it difficult to make other close friends. It was comforting to hear that someone else was having the same problems._

_As he unpacked his own books, which were far fewer in number than hers, she asked, "What are you studying?"_

_Taiki showed the cover of his literature anthology. "I'm majoring in English Language and Literature. But I'm thinking about Classical Studies or Comparative Literature as well. And you?"_

_She liked the way he spoke, with quiet assurance and confidence without being too arrogant. "Biology. I suppose I'm also considering Biochemistry, but I haven't decided yet. I'd like to go to medical school."_

_"English and Biology. What a pairing."_

_Ami had laughed lightly, wondering if he was flirting with her in his own subtle way. They spoke little for the rest of the night, although he brought her a cup of coffee when he went down to the café for a break. _

She soon had a more definitive answer to her question when she began to see him more often. His presence was not so intrusive as stalking, and he wasn't at the library everyday, or even every other day. When he was on the same floor as she was, he didn't always sit at the same table or even remotely near her. But eventually, he learned that she preferred tea to coffee and liked to snack on sandwiches rather than sweets.

He did his best to acquaint himself with her habits and never forgot her preferences, and she found his quiet intelligence attractive. She tried not to mind too much that he showed no interest whatsoever in medicine, although he was very good about listening to her ramble on about whatever disease had caught her interest.

For her part, Ami hadn't read many of the classics apart from what she had been required to read in high school, but she followed to the best of her ability whatever topic Taiki was currently obsessed with as he wrote each new essay, ground his teeth over his thesis. He took her to see concerts and plays, and always brought her white roses when the occasion called for them.

And Kira liked him.

"_He's very serious, although he's quite sweet around you. He seems very different from Richard."_

_Ami smiled weakly at that. "Yes, he does," was all she said._

When she thought about it later, she agreed that Taiki was different from her father on many fronts. He wasn't wild and adventurous, didn't have itchy feet and a flash-fire temper. He was stable and serious, and often cold to strangers.

But Taiki, like Richard, was devoted to an art, although he was enamored of literature rather than painting. In his own way, he was as focused on his career and goals as Ami was.

He wasn't ecstatic about her long hours and the demands of her profession. She had made it clear to him during their undergraduate years about how busy she would be, and he had accepted that and stuck with her through medical school.

When he introduced her to his parents and acquaintances, he always made it clear how proud he was of her and her accomplishments. Certainly, a medical doctor garnered a certain amount of status and respect, and many people admired her for her choice to specialize in pediatric oncology.

They had fought rarely in college and while she had been in medical school. But it had been easier for him to accept her work hours and lack of time for him when he had also been struggling to get his career on track. Now that Taiki was established and enjoying greater job security, he wanted Ami to accompany him on some of his trips so they could go to places they had never been before together. He also wanted her to come to social gatherings with him so he could show her off to his colleagues and so he wasn't always showing up alone, and wished that her schedule allowed for them to enjoy more performances in the city.

He also wanted a family. Once, their most heated debates had been over convincing Ami to move in with him. Now they were fighting over moving up their wedding date, which had been set for some nebulous time after Ami finished her residency. She still had at least two, possibly three, more years to go, and he was getting impatient.

It was this desire of Taiki's that scared Ami the most. She loved children, and ample proof of that existed in the fact that she was going into pediatrics. But she wasn't ready to have children of her own.

She didn't want a child while she was in residency or in the first few years of practice after that, when her life would be hectic beyond belief. She wanted time to get accustomed to the idea, and she was worried she wouldn't have time to properly care for a child. Taiki had a slightly more flexible schedule than hers, but he often had last minute deadlines or needed to travel. What would they do with a baby when she was working eighty-hour weeks and he was out of town?

Every time she brought these points up, Taiki acknowledged the logic of her argument. He didn't have a good solution to their problems, but neither did she. Ami was afraid that one answer might involve a change in her career, which was unacceptable to her, but for someone who accepted compromise as a fact of life, she felt frustrated at her own inability to compromise with him.

It didn't seem fair to keep telling him she needed more time if he was ready to make changes in his life now. She knew that Mina or Rei would tell her it was ridiculous to think like that, but in her heart of hearts, Ami was afraid of being abandoned.

Her father had left her when she had been nine, and Zach, who she had grown to depend on so strongly in only a year, had walked out of her life at the end of that year. Kira had proven over the years that she was perfectly capable of sustaining an independent lifestyle, and Rei was on the verge of marrying Jaden. They both had their own lives, of which she was only a part.

Taiki was the only boyfriend she had ever had, and Ami was afraid that he, too, would leave her. The doubts gnawed at her, and each time they fought, she feared that he would leave her, even though he never even hinted at such a possibility.

* * *

A week before the wedding, Zach flew into town, his briefcase stuffed full of papers to grade. He served as his advisor's teaching assistant for two courses, and the only way he had been released from finals season for Rei and Jaden's May wedding had been to promise he would have the papers evaluated in time for grades to be reported.

Kenneth picked him up at the airport, black shades covering the eyes that shifted between shades of gray and green. "So the professor is in town," he remarked as part of their running joke, watching Zach heave his carry-on into the trunk.

Dusting his hands off, Zach came around to the passenger side with an easy grin. "Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem. I just finished a case, and Jaden's still at work. He wanted to come with me, but he has time off for his honeymoon coming up soon and needs to stay in his boss's good graces."

As they drove off, Keth remarked, "I see that you travel like a girl."

Zach glared at him like an annoyed cat. "Hey. I needed to bring stuff with me. Suit, shoes, hair products, other clothes for a week and a half… You try packing light with those requirements."

"Ah, but you see, what you count as essentials would be found more easily in Mina's luggage than in mine."

He laughed as Zach winced.

"Well, maybe it's because you borrow them from her," he tried in a valiant attempt to salvage his dignity.

They pulled up at Kenneth and Mina's house forty minutes later. Jaden and Rei still lived in an apartment rather than a house, so their family members who would be arriving from out of town would mostly be staying in hotels. Kenneth and Mina had offered their house as a residence for Zach, who was grateful for their hospitality. His stipend as a grad student was fairly miserly, although he was properly grateful for it when he thought of the woes of medical, veterinary, and law school students.

Keth hauled in Zach's suitcase against his wishes, leaving Zach to carry just his garment bag and briefcase into the house. "Nice place," he commented. "I like the flowers."

He grinned roguishly at Keth, who only looked at him. "The sunflowers," he clarified.

"Ah. Right. Mina planted them," Keth said without a hint of the embarrassment Zach had hoped to provoke. "Well, home sweet home."

Zach glanced around the guest room. "Looks great. Thanks a lot, Keth; I really appreciate it."

"No problem. Why don't we grab something to eat? You must be hungry."

He nodded eagerly, for airplane food never agreed with him.

As they went through to the kitchen, Zach noticed the sunny yet sophisticated touches Mina added and the sleek furniture and electronics that Keth favored, blending to make a very appealing home.

Keth called, "Mina, we're home."

Female voices were suddenly heard in the dining room, which was adjacent to the kitchen, and the blond-haired goddess Keth had married appeared a moment later. She kissed Keth quickly on mouth, and then kissed Zach on the cheek. "Hey, there. It's good to see you again!"

He smiled at her, for he always enjoyed Mina's enthusiasm and zest for life. "Good to see you too. Married life agrees with you."

She smiled widely at the compliment, then looked towards her husband, who was rummaging busily in the refrigerator. "Oh, are you guys hungry? I can help you whip up something."

Zach's face filled with abject terror at the thought – he had experienced Mina's cooking once before and hoped never to have a repeat experience. Keth remained calm, though, ignoring the younger man's expression as he replied, "I thought I'd just make a quick sandwich for Zach. We don't want to take you away from your planning."

"You're such a sweetie! Well, you just call if you need anything."

Mina danced away as Zach let out a quick breath. "Good save."

Keth looked at him, amusement curving the corners of his mouth up. "Her cooking has gotten better in the past year. Really."

"I don't know how it could have gotten worse," Zach muttered under his breath.

* * *

Back in the dining room, Serena asked, "Who did Keth bring home?"

Airily, Mina answered, "Oh, Keth picked up Zach from the airport today. He'll be staying with us." She then disappeared into the kitchen to speak with them.

Ami, who was in the bathroom at the time, missed Keth's return and the girls' exchange. Once she finished drying her hands and patting a few stray strands of hair into place, she walked back towards the dining room.

To do so, she had to pass through the kitchen. She was caught completely unaware by Keth's presence in the kitchen. "Oh, Keth, I didn't realize you were home already," she said. Her mouth became as dry as cotton when he turned to greet her, and she made eye contact with the copper-haired man sitting at the table.

* * *


	11. Part IV Chapter 3

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_AN: I've used part of a scene from the episode involving Ami, Taiki, Usagi, and Misa as inspiration, hoping it would provide some insight into Taiki's character and more reason for why Ami would like him in the first place. Hope it works!_

_Part 4-3_

Zach nearly choked on his bite of turkey sandwich when he saw Ami standing in the doorway, her cheeks pale with distress.

Unaware of their shock, Keth said, "Yes, I finished work early today so I picked up Zach, here. You must have met before – haven't you?"

Ami said nothing, her eyes fixed on Zach's. He looked…older, she thought, even though it was a somewhat silly first observation. His hair was neater than she remembered but still in a ponytail, and he wore tan slacks and what had once been a crisp button-up shirt before his plane ride. She couldn't recall seeing him dressed up in more than jeans and a t-shirt in high school, besides the tux he had worn for prom.

It was embarrassing, she thought distantly, that she could feel the way she felt about him, and still think he was incredibly handsome. 'Why couldn't he have gotten uglier over the years? Perhaps acquired an unattractive squint, thinning hair, and a potbelly?' she wondered.

He looked quite changed, but his eyes were still that same shade of bright emerald green that had haunted her dreams for months after their last fight.

Since it didn't look like Ami was going to answer anytime soon, Zach made his suddenly stiff jaws work so he could swallow the food that now tasted like sawdust in his mouth. When he could speak, he said, "Yeah, we've met."

Mina, curious as always and able to hear their conversation from the next room, bounced into the kitchen. "There you are, Ames. Oh, of course they've met before, Keth. You two were friends in high school, weren't you?"

She smiled in reminisce even as Ami and Zach tensed perceptibly. "Oh, yes. You even went to prom together! I have a great photo of you two on the steps of Ami's apartment."

"Mina._Mina_." Ami's voice was so soft she had to speak twice before her exuberant friend hear her. "I'm sorry, but I have to go now."

"What? But you're not on call now, are you?" Mina's surprise was evident, for Ami had planned to stay with her and Serena for another two hours at the very least.

Ami shook her head dazedly, wondering why the room had suddenly become airless, why she suddenly felt seventeen years old again and so unsure of herself with Zach's penetrating gaze on her. "No, no. But something's come up, and I have to, I just have to go."

She turned away, wringing her hands even as Mina walked over to. "Ami, sweetie, are you feeling all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. But – I can't remember where I put my purse. Have you seen it?"

Keth was standing with his arms folded, his usually stoic expression giving way to obvious bafflement at Ami's odd behavior. Zach, on the other hand, was trying to manage his own shock at seeing her so suddenly and the odd sense of hurt that was pulsing through him at her reaction.

"I can call someone for you, or drive you back," Mina offered, obviously concerned.

Ami forced herself to smile, to look into her friend's eyes past the confusion and hurt that were swirling inside of her again. "No, I'm absolutely fine, I promise. I'll call you when I get back so you know I've reached home safely. I'm sorry I'm running out like this, but I can't – I can't stay."

"Okay then. Make sure you call me!" Mina called after her as Ami eased through the front door.

Suddenly, Zach was there as well. "Excuse me," he said to her as he shouldered his way past and through the storm door.

Mina dashed away from the front door to watch them from the window, and even Keth joined her, although he pretended to be disapproving at first. From the dining room, Serena called, "What's going on, guys?"

* * *

Unaware that he had come after her, Ami tried to fit her key into the car door even as her fingers shook slightly. 'This is ridiculous,' she thought to herself. 'I can do surgery at one in the morning with a child's life at stake, but I can't get the damn door open now.' 

She had no more time to berate herself, for she nearly jumped out of her skin when Zach spoke her name.

As she turned towards him with a reproachful look on her face, Zach held up his hands, as if to show that he came in peace. "Hey. Don't be so jumpy."

"Sorry," she said stiffly.

"Look, I know this is…rough," he decided, trying to keep his anger in check. Maybe he hadn't been so smart that many years ago, but he had been young. They had both been young, and it hadn't been all his fault. She didn't need to act like he was some monster now. "But I'm just here for Rei and Jaden's wedding."

Ami nodded mechanically. Rei had warned her about it when she had formally asked Ami to be her maid of honor, and Ami had thought she had been prepared to face him again. She just hadn't expected to come across him so suddenly in Mina's kitchen, in the middle of the girls' planning session.

"Of course," she said in a brittle voice when he seemed to expect a response. "I hope you…had a good flight."

"It was excellent," he said sarcastically.

Temper put color back into her cheeks. "Well, that's nice to hear. While I'd like to stay here and chat with you, I'm afraid I have to go."

Zach snapped, "You don't really have somewhere to go, do you?"

Ami blushed now. "What are you talking about?"

"Mina was clearly surprised that you were heading out. Well, you don't have to run away on my account," he told her, still stung about how unsavory she found his presence.

"I'm not running away, and it's not because of you," she replied unconvincingly.

"Yeah. Right."

She glared at him. "Look, I don't know what your problem is, but –"

"My problem? You think _I_ have a problem?!" His voice cracked like it hadn't done since before they had met again in high school.

Ami stared at him with wide eyes. The jump in his voice and the affronted expression on his face were too much for her in such a state, and she couldn't help the giggle that came out.

To his surprise, Zach felt an unexpected smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I'm glad someone thinks it's funny," he muttered.

When she stopped smiling again, he said quickly, "Look, I know we don't have the past track record, but we both know why we're here and how special this is for Rei and Jaden. So why don't we just…call a truce. If you don't want to talk to me, you don't have to. But we won't treat each other like poison, and we have to be able to stand each other's company for at least the fifteen minutes it takes to get down the aisle."

"All right," Ami agreed quietly.

"Shake on it?" he asked, offering his hand.

Ami stared at the open palm before her nervously. Hesitantly, she put her fingers in his, pulling her arm back as quickly as possible when she felt an odd warmth spreading through them.

Similarly caught off guard, Zach stuck his hands in his pocket. "So. You really have somewhere to go to, or are you going to go back and help plan this thing? I promise I'll stay out of your way. Keth and I will sit in the living room and do manly things befitting our manly selves."

She felt herself smiling again, even though she could have sworn she shouldn't be. "All right," she said again, this time sounding more sure of herself.

* * *

Mina and Serena were back in the dining room by the time Ami and Zach returned, and they were careful not to treat her reappearance as anything out of the ordinary. Zach and Keth, as promised, retreated to another part of the house and hadn't emerged by the time Ami and Serena left. 

As soon as they were gone, Mina went upstairs to call Rei, sure that Zach was out of the way with Keth.

Rei was out of work by this time, relaxing in the living room as Jaden was taking his turn cooking dinner. From the curses and bangs emanating from the kitchen, she was wondering how many more minutes she would hold out before she went to help him. When the phone rang, Jaden called eagerly, "I'll get it!"

"Oh, no," Rei said, passing through the kitchen as he rushed to wash his hands. "You're busy, honey. I'll get it."

His shoulders slumped as he returned to the cutting board. They slumped lower when he heard Rei's words and determined that the call wasn't for him. There was no escape from the evil stove and that sharp, sharp knife.

He could have cried when he heard: "Hi Mina. No, I'm not busy. What's going on?"

Mina sat down her bed, prepared for a good chat. "You'll never guess what happened today. So Sere and Ami were with me at home, and then Keth brought Zach home from the airport, and–"

"What?" Rei cut her off. "Keth did what?"

At Jaden's curious look, she shut herself into the other room to talk in private.

Mina repeated, "He brought Zach home from the airport. Anyway, I didn't think it would be such a big deal, but Ami and Zach took one look at each other and totally freaked."

"Oh no," Rei moaned. "I can't believe this happened. They weren't supposed to meet until next week! At the very earliest!"

"I'm so confused!" Mina complained. "You should have warned me. I didn't know what the big deal would be. They got along fine in high school… if you ask me, there were some major sparks there. I thought they just lost touch over the years!"

As quickly as possible, Rei narrated the short version of the falling out Ami and Zach had had. "So they both knew they would be attending the wedding, but I guess meeting so suddenly caught them by surprise," she finished up. "Oh, I wish it hadn't happened! Is Ami all right?"

"Well, she seemed fine when she left," Mina answered, "but at first she was out the door before you could say 'boo.' But then, wait until you hear this! Zach went after her, and they were talking by her car. Keth and I couldn't hear a word, but if you ask me, they seemed pretty steamed at each other.

"But somehow, they started laughing! Can you imagine? And then they came back inside, and Ami tried pretending that nothing had happened, but clearly, something was going on."

"What?" Rei asked in surprise. "They're okay?"

"I think 'okay' is pushing it, but he got her to come inside. They didn't see each other again before she left."

"Okay. That's fine. That's good."

Mina tried to calm her friend down. "Don't stress, Rei. I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"I know, I know. I should have warned you too, but I guess I was putting it off because I've been a little worried about it."

"Well, stop. They're grown ups, not teenagers with raging hormones; they can handle a little sexual tension."

Rei groaned again. "Mina! Ami's engaged, remember. To Taiki."

"Oh. Right. But still, to be perfectly honest, I think Zach's way hotter than Taiki."

"Mina. You're married to Keth."

"Oh, I know, and he's the best looking of them all! Sorry Rei, but he's just way yummier than Zach and Jaden. Maybe not the two of them combined, though. Just kidding, sweetie!"

Rei rolled her eyes, assuming her last remark had been directed at Keth. "Uh huh. Anyway, I know Zach's having dinner with you two tonight, but can you tell him to come over for dinner tomorrow? Oh no, never mind, we can't do tomorrow night. The night after that. I'm sure I won't get a word out of Ami, so I want to grill him."

"But I want to be there, too!" Mina complained.

"No! The less people there are, the more he'll open up."

The blonde perked up at that. "So you'll share all the juicy parts with me?"

Rei sighed. "I'm not sure there are supposed to be juicy parts in this, Mina. But yes, I'll update you after. So make sure he's here the day after tomorrow, all right?" At Mina's cheery affirmative, she hung up the phone.

"What's up?" Jaden asked, his apron still on as he opened the door.

"Nothing." Rei smiled at him innocently, deciding to keep him in the dark awhile longer.

He complained, "You girls are always leaving us out of the loop. Come on, I know Keth did something. He **never** does anything wrong, so you have to tell me."

"Keth didn't do anything. And we're having dinner with your brother on Tuesday." With that, Rei strolled out of the room to check on dinner.

* * *

That night, Ami was going over charts and leaving her usual meticulous notes for the next resident on shift on her patients. She was barely listening to one of her fellow interns telling her a story about her cousin, who wanted to enter a certain surgical subspecialty and had had to carve a nose from a bar of soap during his interview. 

As her friend concluded the story and Ami responded in the appropriate fashion, she checked her watch for the time. Taiki would be picking her up for a late dinner soon, and she was starving.

She finished up quickly, sure that her comments were both legible and comprehensive. "I'm going to head out now, Maria. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Ami!"

She walked out of the ward and spotted Taiki sitting patiently in the waiting room by the entrance she always exited from. "Hi," she greeted him warmly as he stood.

"Hi back," he said. "How was your day?"

She was about to answer when Maria called her name again. Frowning, she and Taiki moved to meet the other woman.

"Oh, Ami, I'm so sorry to keep you, but I was just talking to Anna, and she seems so upset about the surgery tomorrow. None of the other interns are as familiar with her as you are, and I was wondering if you could just take a second to talk to her."

Ami agreed quickly, then glanced at Taiki, who nodded benignly. He trailed them into the ward, and no one remarked on his presence even though he stuck out like a sore thumb.

Anna was twelve, and very bright for her age. She and Ami had gotten along right away from the time they had spent together. Tomorrow, she would be undergoing a risky surgery that surgeons from across the country would be participating in.

She looked up happily as Ami entered, and her eyes rested curiously on the very tall, brown-haired stranger behind her. "Who's that?" she asked.

"Oh – this is Taiki Kou, a…friend of mine."

He smiled and nodded at her. "Hello, Anna. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi," she whispered. Her eyes widened suddenly. "I've read your work. Sometimes we read your articles for social studies class. I really liked it, especially the piece on…"

Ami felt regret wash through her as she realized she wasn't keeping up with Taiki's work and couldn't remember the piece Anna was so familiar with. Taiki chatted with Anna for a few moments, taken by this young admirer of his.

Finally, when Anna looked back at her beseechingly, Ami drew up a chair by her bed. "Maria says you're a little worried about tomorrow. Maybe you'd like to talk about it with me?"

Anna moved her finger across the sheets restlessly, smoothing out the wrinkles. "Will you tell me again about the procedure? You make it sound so much less scary when you go through it, step by step."

Patiently, Ami did so, simplifying what would be done and explaining things in such a way so they were understandable and less frightening. At the end of her recital, Taiki himself thought he had a good grasp of what would be happening.

Anna seemed to be fine while Ami was speaking, asking questions here and there. But when Ami was done talking, she burst into sudden tears. "I'm still so afraid. I don't want to die," she sobbed.

Ami felt her heart contract in her chest. "Oh, Anna." She had done this before, and searched for the right words to calm her down. She couldn't say, "Don't be afraid. You won't die" because they had been told not to make promises they could keep. But she could reassure her as best as she could, do her best to make sure Anna was in the best possible condition for her surgery and recovery.

To her surprise, Taiki spoke up, making Anna lift her head and focus on him. "Don't be frightened. The most important thing to do is believe you'll get better. You have Ami here, and a group of very talented doctors who will all be watching over you. They're going to do their very best, and you have to believe in them and yourself.

"I'm not a doctor myself, as you know – far from it. But I've heard of many cases where faith pulls people through. You have to believe in yourself."

As they were walking towards the car a few moments later, Ami glanced at him, this confusing, complicated, complex man she had promised to marry who still surprised her after more than seven years together. "Thank you," she said quietly, feeling that her words were inadequate.

The intimacy that had been present in that small room seemed to have evaporated. He only gave her an oblique look before he turned his gaze straight ahead again. "I wasn't sure if I spoke out of turn."

"No. It was certainly unconventional, but I think you really helped her. What a coincidence that she knew of you."

He only nodded and didn't say anything else.

Ami sighed, looking out at the gathering darkness outside her window as they left the bright lights of the hospital behind. She knew speaking to Anna had touched him – it had to have touched him – but she wished he would talk about it with her now instead of shutting her out.

* * *


	12. Part IV Chapter 4

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 4-4_

During dinner, they covered fairly innocuous topics: what Rei and Jaden were doing at work, how Zach's dissertation was coming along, and gossip about their mutual friends. Zach and Jaden were trying to keep discussion of the wedding at a minimum, and to their profound gratitude, Rei seemed happy to comply.

It was only when Rei sent Jaden to prepare coffee and dessert that Zach felt the jaws of the trap closing around him. Rei settled back against the couch with a sweet smile. "I'm so glad we're having this chance to chat, Zach. I've hardly had a chance to speak to you on your own."

Without giving him a chance to respond, she asked, "How are you settling in with Mina and Keth?"

"It's great–"

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. I heard that you've…run into some people who will also be participating in the wedding while you've been staying with them. Serena, for instance. And Ami."

Zach groaned. "Aw, Rei. It was an accident. Keth just brought me home from the airport, and I didn't have a clue she'd be there."

"I know that. What I don't understand is, how were you able to get her to stay?"

He eyed her suspiciously. "Sheesh. What's with the grapevine around here? Does Mina report everything that happens to you?"

She smiled at him. "Just answer the question, Zach."

"I don't know. We just…had a talk, worked things out. You know, like a truce. I believe you're familiar with the concept, with the amount of fighting you and Jaden do?"

Rei's glare didn't seem to faze him. "I see. You…worked things out."

"Uh huh." They both looked up at Jaden's panicked shout from the kitchen. "Are you sure he's okay in there?"  
"As long as I don't hear anything breaking, I'm sure he's fine."

"Well, like I was saying, we talked and agreed to be civil for the wedding. So you don't have anything to worry about."

Rei sniffed. "I'd better not."

Now that the interrogation aspect of the evening seemed to be over, Zach asked casually, "So, Jaden mentioned that she's engaged. To some hotshot journalist."

"That's right. Taiki Kou."

"So when are they getting married?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "I don't really know. Why are you so curious?"

He put on his best smile as Jaden came in with a brown stain down his front, two cups of coffee, and a sullen glare for Rei. As he returned to the kitchen for the third cup and dessert, Zach said, "Why don't I help you bring the rest in?"

Rei reached out and grabbed his sleeve easily. "Not so fast."

He sat back down with a sigh. "Yes ma'am."

"You managed to work eight years of avoidance out? Just like that?"

Zach put on a pained look. "Look, I'm just… it's weird seeing her again after all this time. It's hard for us to talk now, but it's interesting seeing where she is in her life now and how she's changed."

Her expression softened slightly. "She hasn't changed very much. Grown up a little more, maybe, but she's still the same – so intelligent, and so loving, and just a little bit shy and unsure of herself."

With an astuteness that surprised him, Rei asked, "And are you thinking about if you've changed, too?"

Zach shrugged moodily before answering. "Yeah, maybe. I'm still pretty much the same, too, I guess. Not much different from the sarcastic kid who thought he was smarter than everyone else and didn't want to prove it."

He glanced at her and then away. "I like where I am now. Looking back, I think I may have needed that year away. Mom and Dad were totally freaked when the postal strike made it impossible for me to get any letters out, but I came back with more perspective. Not everyone needs it, but maybe I needed it. Maybe I didn't.

"Anyway, I came back, made it through college, decided I liked academia too much to give it up. Too many snobs to knock down a notch or too for me to leave. But I never made that many more close friends in college."

He grinned at her even as Rei thought it was a sad point in the story. "I've always had Jaden, though, and you and Mina aren't bad. Meeting Keth was great, too. And I have my fair share of friends in grad school, some post docs here and there, and I drag them out for some fresh air when we need it.

"But Ami, she was one of my first real friends. And you know the deal – she helped whip me into shape and get my butt into gear, even though she claimed she didn't have any intention of doing so. I guess she didn't, but it worked anyway.

"Now that I think back on it, I really regret not talking to her before I left for Argentina. Maybe we could have patched things up, or maybe we couldn't have, but at least I would've had the satisfaction of knowing I tried."

Zach's mood, which had saddened again, seemed to bounce back instantly when Jaden came in with the cake. "Great, it's chocolate, my favorite! At this rate, how am I going to fit into my tux?" he joked.

* * *

The next evening, Ami removed her pearl earrings as she stood before the dresser and proceeded to go through the motions of her nighttime routine mechanically. She neatened a few things here and there, straightened a bottle of perfume that had fallen over, and set out her scrubs for the next day. Still, she couldn't achieve any sort of calm.

She should have been pleased. Anna's surgery had been a resounding success, and she was out of danger. But Ami's mood had been blighted by what had happened after her shift had ended and she had returned to the apartment.

_"I don't think we fight much more than other couples."_

Her lips twisted bitterly at the memory of Taiki's words. She had accused him of being distant, and he thought she was overwrought.

"_I think work is tiring you out. Dealing with Anna was very difficult."_

_"I know it was difficult. And you were very good with her." She tried to moderate her ungracious tone but found she couldn't. She was even more antagonized by the fact that while her voice clearly conveyed her temper, despite her best efforts to hold it steady, he only sounded mildly annoyed, as if remarking that it was raining outdoors._

"_I told you, speaking to her wasn't a spectacular effort on my part. I was glad to be of help in this instance. But it's not just Anna, it's all your patients. What escapes me how you can deal with such things on a regular basis."_

_"My work is important to me. It breaks my heart to think of so many children who are desperately ill with serious diseases. If I can be a part of something that will give them a better chance at living normal, healthy lives, then the sorrow, the difficulty, the utter tragedy is a part of it. _

"_I thought you understood that I would never step back from my work. Maybe it's not pleasant, not something you can have a civilized conversation about over drinks, but that doesn't mean I'll turn my back on reality."_

_"Is that what you think I'm doing? Turning my back on reality?" _

_She shuddered at his incisive tone. He always hated when someone tried to read him and came up with an incorrect claim._

_"Perhaps you've confused me with someone else. I don't report on light and pleasant topics either, Ami. You accuse me of being detached and distant. For me, it takes a certain amount of emotional distance to report on global crises. I'm not blinding myself to the dark corners of the world. _

"_I don't chat about corruption, or murder, or human trafficking with my acquaintances, and I can leave them at work and make sure they're not my entire world. How else would I stay sane? Sometimes I don't think you look past what happens at the hospital."_

Ami paused in the hallway, staring almost blindly at Taiki's door, which was closed. He had had no small amount of difficulty convincing her to move in with him, so they had compromised by moving into a new two-bedroom apartment. Both of them were private people and accepted the need to have spaces of their own. It also gave them each their own bedroom to sulk in when they had fights.

She turned away and got into her bed, feeling like her limbs were made of lead. If she swam in the ocean now, she almost thought she would sink down to the seafloor, lie there unmoving among the bottom dwellers scuttling on claws and tentacles, letting the dark shadow of a manta ray move slowly across her body.

Willing herself to empty her mind, she pulled the covers up and shut off the lamp. Their tense words about her job turned into another full-blown argument when Taiki reminded her of his mother's upcoming birthday celebration.

_"What?"_

_"Next month, the sixteenth. It's a Friday."_

_"Oh, Taiki. I told you the first time that I wouldn't be able to have that day off. I've already taken so much time off for Rei's wedding."_

_His tone was stiff. "Ami, this is a very important occasion. You said you would try to arrange it."_

_"I did, honestly. It just couldn't be done."_

_"Nonsense. If you really wanted to be there, you would."_

_The tears had started to burn her eyes then. "Taiki, I _tried. _No one else can fill in for me that day."_

_His frustration bled through his words. "Everyone will be there, Ami. Seiya, Kakyuu, and Yaten had no problem clearing their schedules."_

_She hated hearing about how everyone else could make it. 'Everyone else' was not an intern at a first-tier urban hospital. Recently, hearing about Kakyuu, Seiya's seemingly-perfect girlfriend, had started to grate on her nerves. It didn't help that Kakyuu had been friends with Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten since they were children and that Taiki himself had once had a crush on her._

_Taiki's parents adored Kakyuu and couldn't have been more pleased when she began seeing Seiya. Taiki's mother in particular was always commenting on what good care Kakyuu took of Seiya and how she was so devoted to making him happy. She also had the advantage of working from home at a less-demanding job._

"_I feel like I'm always making excuses for you."_

_The unfairness of his statement stung her. "I don't miss that many of these events, Taiki!"_

_"You miss enough of them," he countered. "Look, I don't mind if you can't always make drinks or meals with friends or even if you get called away in the middle of them. But you should at least be able to make my mother's birthday. At the very least."_

_She closed her eyes, pushing back the tears and willing herself to ignore the other hurtful comments that wormed their way into the crevices of her heart and burrowed deeply there. "Taiki… I've already explained to you. I can't find anyone else to come in for me that day. I'm truly sorry, but I just can't be there that day."_

_He managed to close his mouth before he said something unforgivable to her. "Fine."_

_They hadn't said another word to each other all night. _

The hot tears pushed past her eyelashes to roll down her cheek again, and Ami cried silently in the darkness with her lips pressed tight to prevent any sound from escaping.

* * *

The next morning, she woke up bleary-eyed and heavy-hearted. To her surprise, Taiki, ordinarily an early riser, wasn't in his room. He wasn't anywhere in the apartment. As Ami padded through the hallways in her bare feet, her heart began thudding with the sudden fear that he had finally gone.

She hesitated with the phone in her hand, indecision gnawing at her as she wondered whether she should call his cell. It was silly, after all, to be worried if he had only gone out for bagels and coffee. But she had to be back at the hospital in another couple of hours.

Finally, she went back to her room and dialed the number, her knuckles white as she listened to the interminable rings.

"Hi Ami! What's up?" the cheerful voice asked through the phone.

"Hi, Serena. I'm sorry to call you so early… actually, I'm surprised you're awake!"

Serena said pitifully, "Me, too. First Mina called, then Rei, and then Rei finally sent Mina over to get me out of bed. Oh, I'm so excited about the wedding. The rehearsal dinner is tomorrow, can you believe it?"

"No, I really can't."

"Well, anyway, you haven't told me why you called yet!" her friend remarked gaily.

Ami pressed the fingers of her free hand to her temple. "Taiki and I had another fight last night, and now I don't know where he's gone. I'm sure it's nothing; I didn't mean to call you and make it such a big deal…"

"Don't be silly. You're upset, and it's only natural that you're a little worried. Has he been gone since last night or just this morning?"

"Just this morning, I think. He usually rises early but I don't think he was expected at work yet."

Practically, Serena asked, "Well, did you call his cell? Is he not answering?"

"I…didn't call him. I know it's silly, but I was afraid he'd just gone."

"Oh, Ami! Of course he wouldn't do that, even if you two were really mad at each other. He really cares about you; anyone can see that."

She began to cry, feeling the shadow of despair fall over her again. "But he was so upset with me, Serena. It's his mother's birthday next month, but I already told him that none of the other interns can take my shift that day. He was really hurt about it, and he said things like he's tired of making excuses for me and how if I really wanted to be there, I would. What am I going to do?"

"He doesn't have the right to say anything like that you!" Indignation and anger swept through her, but she tried to tone it down for Ami's sake. "I'm sure he didn't mean it, and I hope you know that none of that is true. It sounds like he's just a little stressed and frustrated and took it out on you. Maybe things have been really busy at work?" Serena suggested.

"I don't know. He hasn't mentioned it, but…I just don't know. I don't know if I would know if there was anything that was bothering him besides what we fight about," Ami said miserably.

"Ami, of course you would. You can always tell when people are upset, and you always do everything you can to make them feel better. You're such a good friend to me, and I don't see how you could be anything but that to anyone, let alone Taiki."

She sniffed. "But–"

As she heard the sound of the key turning in the door, she cut herself off to listen closely. He seemed to be removing his shoes, hanging up his jacket, and then moving quietly in the kitchen. She was familiar with the sound and weight of his footsteps.

"Ames? You still there?"

"Yes, I think he just came back in. Can you – can you just hold on while I check?"

"Of course. You go right ahead."

Putting down the phone, Ami peered out of her door cautiously.

Taiki turned at the sound of the door, and she thought for a moment that his habitual small morning smile would pass over his face, but he seemed to regard her as warily as she did him.

It felt like forever but in reality, the reverie lasted only a few seconds. Taiki smiled finally. "Good morning. I'm sorry I went out so early – I hope you weren't worried. The boss called me in with little notice. I have some news for you; will you come and sit with me?" He indicated the little loveseat in the sitting area off the kitchen.

"Of course. I just – I'm on the phone with Serena, so let me just tell her good bye." Ami went back into her room and picked up the phone again. "Serena?"

"Still here! Is he back?"

"Yes. He seems fine. Almost like we didn't fight at all. But he wants to talk about something."

"Well, that sounds promising. If you want to talk before we meet up tomorrow, just give me call."

"I will. Thank you, Serena."

"Anytime."

She clicked the phone off and moved towards the sitting room slowly, wondering why she still felt such dread. She tried to smile when she saw the cup of tea already waiting for her on the coffee table. "Well, is it good news or bad?"

Taiki looked grave again, but only for a minute. "Both at once, I'm afraid. You see, I've been given this terrific assignment. Really, it could make my career with this interview…"

Ami tried to listen closely, even as a sense of the surreal wrapped around her. Could they really be talking so naturally as the sunlight spilled into the room, wandering over their knees to caress the warm mahogany of the bookshelf? She nodded again as she caught the name of a foreign dignitary who had been mentioned on the news frequently in the past few months.

"…but the thing is, I have to go to Ankara to attend the press conference." Here, the enthusiasm that had lit Taiki's eyes and so animated his usually staid gestures faded slightly.

"Ankara. That sounds exciting," Ami managed. "You'll have to send me a postcard."

He smiled, although he still looked worried. "Oh, I will, no doubt about it. I'll bring you back an interesting souvenir, too."

Ami folded her hands carefully. "Well, when are you going?"

"The thing is, I…I have to leave tomorrow around noon."

The room was so quiet she could have sworn there was a faint ringing in her ears. "Tomorrow? But the rehearsal dinner is tomorrow night."

Taiki sighed, raking his fingers through his long hair. It was the one thing about him that was not cut and dried, not precise and businesslike. Secretly, it was the physical feature Ami liked most about him, besides his eyes. "I know, I know, and it's – I feel very badly about it. But you understand how important this is to me, don't you? It's really unbelievable, a notch above the work I've been doing so far."

She bit her lip. "It does sound very impressive, and I'm truly happy for you. I just… it seems terribly ill-timed; Rei and Jaden have been expecting you would be at the wedding for months, and it's just two days before it."

"Yes, I know. Really, I wish things could have worked out differently. But my absence won't disrupt things too much, Ami. I'm not a groomsman, and they'll hardly miss me. After all, the attention is on the bride and the groom at the wedding, and their attention will be on each other. Just wait, when you finally come around to agreeing with me that pushing up our wedding date is a good idea, you'll understand."

Ami's head was spinning. She wasn't sure what annoyed her more – the fact that his dropping out of attending the wedding at the last minute could seem so matter-of-fact, whereas her absence from his mother's birthday was taken as unbelievably rude, or what she took as another pointed criticism about her wish to hold off on getting married.

"Don't be too upset, Ami. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

She just looked at him and tried to smile, even though her jaws felt wired shut. "I'll make your excuses to Rei," she said distantly, sure it would come better from her than Taiki.

He smiled. "Thank you, darling. I knew I could count on you. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you're always so supportive. I'm afraid I have to get back to the office now to talk about the details; I just slipped home for some files and so I could share the news with you."

Taiki frowned as he checked his watch. "Don't you have a shift soon? In about a half an hour? I can drop you off, if you'd like."

Ami shook her head. "No, I don't want to keep you. I'll be fine. But I won't be home until late tonight."

"Of course," he said absentmindedly, already bustling to retrieve his briefcase and jacket. He kissed her on the cheek as he left, a habitual gesture, and she suddenly realized what had been itching her for some time now.

'I feel like you take me for granted,' she thought at the door he had just disappeared through. 'Like that antique table you love. You might know exactly how to treat it, what polish really makes it shine, and to cover it with a desk blotter to protect it, but it's a piece of furniture all the same, a staple of the room that gives it some charm.'

* * *

_ AN: These are the last of the completed chapters and the semester is about to start again, so writing will be going much more slowly from this point on. But I'll be doing my best to continue and finish off the story! Thank you for reading and for all the great comments._


	13. Part IV Chapter 5

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 4-5_

Ami woke up the next morning still surrounded by that curious sense of detachment. She had called Rei the day before during one of her short breaks, and Rei had been very understanding about the whole situation – a little too understanding. Although Ami was relieved that Rei hadn't been terribly upset, she continued to feel disheartened and mortified. A part of her wondered if Taiki felt the same way when he had to "make her excuses," but she was unwilling to exercise empathy at this point.

She had another, shorter shift before the rehearsal dinner and was planning to drive directly to the dinner from the hospital. The clothes and cosmetics she needed were already carefully packed, but Ami continued to loiter in her room.

Finally, a quiet knock sounded at her door. "Ami? The taxi's here; I have to leave for the airport now."

She opened the door immediately. "Do you have everything?"

"Yes." He regarded her with that same sense of regret, excitement, and confusion that had filled his eyes for the past day and a half. "I hope you have fun tonight."

It was Rei's bachelorette party as well as the rehearsal dinner, so he added, "Try not to make me too jealous, now."

She smiled faintly, wondering if he would be able to spare her a thought once he landed in Ankara. "Of course not."

"And be sure to give Rei and Jaden my very best wishes tomorrow. I'll call you when I can, and be back soon. Monday at the latest."

Ami nodded. She tried to think what Mina, Rei, or Serena would do in her place. Rei would probably be too steamed to be calmly wishing him farewell. She imagined Mina might have the energy to chirp "Knock their boots off!" or some similar saying after she had made him suffer terribly the night before. As for Serena… well, she didn't have a clue. Serena could be as unpredictable as Mina in her own way.

She felt like the words she ordinarily would have said: "I'm so proud of you, good luck with everything" would choke her on the way out. So she settled for a simple "Have a safe trip" and a kiss on the cheek.

Taiki seemed to take her coolness in stride, but after he had shrugged on his blazer and grabbed his briefcase, he paused at the door. Ami closed her eyes as he enveloped her in a hurried embrace.

Her head barely reached the bottom of his chin, and she breathed in the familiar, particular scent of him, wishing he hadn't broken through the ice surrounding her. All the hurt and anger, loneliness and frustration came flooding back, as well as the desperate wish that she could somehow bridge this rift widening between them.

He drew away at last, and kissed her swiftly before he strode out to the impatiently waiting taxi. Ami watched it disappear down the street from the wide bay window.

* * *

"Serena? Could you give Ami a call for me? She was supposed to be here ten minutes ago, and I'm getting a little worried," Rei confessed.

Mina patted her shoulder comfortingly as Serena retrieved her cell phone from her purse. "I know Ami's usually on time, but these hospital shifts are iffy. Maybe something came up at the last minute. I'm sure she's just fine."

Serena walked into the hallway as the phone started ringing to give Mina some more time to calm Rei down. The bride-to-be was jittery over the rehearsal dinner. She had met Eileen and Matthew Coruni millions of times before, but some of Jaden's relatives who had traveled from out of town would be attending the rehearsal dinner, including his veritable dragon of a grandmother.

When she came back in, Rei was asking after her grandfather, who had flown all the way from Japan for her wedding. "He's doing fine, Rei. The last time I saw him, he was talking to Zach. I bet you that they're sitting down somewhere scoping out all the pretty women in the hotel."

"I wouldn't take that bet," Serena laughed as she came in. "I just got through to Ami, and she said she's stuck in some traffic but should be right over. Nothing to worry about" – except she was sure that the tinny quality of Ami's voice that had nothing to do with her cell phone reception.

* * *

Zach had indeed been keeping Rei's grandfather company in the hotel lobby, but soon enough, he was called on to greet and direct his arriving relatives. The rehearsal portion of the day was actually over; Ami hadn't been able to be present, but Serena had promised to go over her cues with her.

There were much more of his relatives coming to the dinner than Rei's, since Rei's portion of the wedding party was basically composed of her grandfather, Kira, Ami, Mina, and Serena. Serena had come down to chat with Rei's grandfather, leaving Zach free to make small talk with some relatives he could barely remember.

"Oh, and Zach, would you keep an eye out for Ami? She was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. I gave her a call, and she said something about traffic, but…"

"All right. She has plenty of time to get here, though."

Serena hesitated, wondering how much she should tell Zach. She knew a little more about the story than Mina and Keth had, but Ami had still been very closemouthed about Zach during their college years.

She went with her instinct, as usual, and said, "She sounded upset on the phone, and her fiancé had to miss the wedding at the last minute… If you could just make sure she's all right when she gets here or find me, I'd really appreciate it."

He grinned at her. "Sure thing, princess." He had liked Serena from the moment he had met her, and the feeling was plainly mutual.

Unfortunately, she had rushed off somewhere, and now he was stuck enduring comments such as: "Oh, Zachary, look how much you've grown! Why, I remember when you came no higher than my knee and let my parakeet Emil loose in the house."

He winced at that and escorted Great-Aunt Maureen to the right room as quickly as possible.

What he hated most was the light, laughing remarks and elbows in the ribs.

"Guess it's going to be your turn next, eh, Zach?"

"Have to catch up with your brother, now, if you know what I mean."

"Jaden's setting such a good example, getting married to that lovely fiancée of his. Your parents must be so pleased. When are you going to do the same?"

To all this, he had to smile politely and refrain from wishing ungratefully that he had as few relatives as Rei did. Younger sibs, he thought, or those who got married second, got the short end of the stick.

When someone asked him for what must have been the tenth time that night, "So are you seeing anyone, Zachary dear?"

He gritted his teeth and answered, "No, not right now," and tried to accept their condolences and dating advise graciously.

"Well, my friend Patricia, she has this lovely niece…"

"A really beautiful girl, Katrina, you should give her a call."

He refused these matchmaking offers as politely as possible, relieved when Jaden showed up at last and took the brunt of the attention.

"Hey, Zach!"

Zach wiped off his forehead discreetly, and then his whole face lit up when he saw the newcomers. He walked forward quickly to take the laughing brunette with the sparkling green eyes as him into a bear hug. "Hi, beautiful."

Her eyes were almost the same exact shade as his, and they twinkled merrily in the bright overhead lights. "Hi, stranger. We haven't heard from you in months! Do they keep you chained to your desk or what?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I picked the lock on my shackles so I could make it to Jaden's wedding." He grinned at her and turned to her parents. "Hi Uncle Grant, Aunt Rose."

They were his favorite aunt and uncle of them all, and Lita was his and Jaden's favorite cousin. Unfortunately, he had to relinquish them to Jaden, although Lita came back to stand with him.

They chatted in between greeting their relatives, catching up on each other's lives. Lita was working for a catering company and taking classes at a reputable culinary institute at night. She claimed solidarity with Zach, since neither of them were currently in a relationship and would likely be the recipients of pointed remarks from the relatives.

Suddenly, Lita asked, "Do you think she's part of the wedding party?" She indicated a young woman in sea green scrubs with short, dark hair who seemed somewhat out of place not only because of her attire, but also because of the blank expression on her face.

Zach looked in the direction she pointed. "Oh, yeah. That's Ami, who's the maid of honor. She's Rei's cousin. But she should know where she's going."

To his surprise, Ami walked straight past them without a flicker of recognition or acknowledgment, her arms loaded down with a garment bag and a heavy-looking purse.

"Ami. Hey, Ami!" He frowned when she didn't respond to his voice, then quickly strode after her. He grabbed her shoulder as he asked, "Where have you been? Serena's been looking all over for you."

She turned to face him, her eyes wide and glassy while her lips were taut with unhappiness. "At the hospital," she responded distantly.

She had done her best to clear her mind before driving to the hotel, but now that she was standing still with Zach's concerned eyes on her, the images from the hospital began replaying in her mind.

"Hey, are you feeling all right? You don't look so great," Zach commented unflatteringly, noticing how pale her face was.

"I'm fine. I have to go find Rei."

He grimaced. "Not like that. She'll go out of her mind with worry when she sees you. She's already been freaking out that you're late. What's wrong? What happened?"

Ami drew in a gulp of air as if she had surfaced from a deep dive. "Nothing. I can't talk about it. I don't want to talk to you. Why can't you just leave me alone?"  
Her voice started to rise on the last question, and Zach backed away a step, holding his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay. Don't get all worked up now."

He glanced at Lita, who had been watching them curiously but was reluctant to interrupt. "Can you find Serena for me and bring her over? Tell her that Ami's here, and that I sent you. She's about this tall, blonde, puts her hair in two buns on her head like meatballs. You can't miss her."

"Sure." Lita hurried off, her luxuriant ponytail swinging behind her.

They were close to a little alcove screened off from the bustling lobby by potted plants, so Zach suggested, "Why don't you sit for a minute and calm down?"

"I don't need to calm down, and I don't want you telling me what to do." Despite her best efforts to keep her voice level, she had started to tremble. To hide the shaking of her legs, she sank down onto the uncomfortable seat.

He looked at his watch, wondering if Lita would ever get Serena there. He had his cell phone stuck in his back pocket, but Serena didn't have her phone on her because her dress had no pockets.

"I'm just trying to help," he said reasonably.

"I don't want your help!" At the same moment, her eyes began brimming with tears.

Instantly, he wished he hadn't sent Lita away. Weren't girls better at dealing with this type of thing? "Don't cry. What's wrong? What happened?"

"We lost a patient. He was only nine." She wept in earnest now, burying her face in her hands as the shock wore off.

Feeling a peculiar sense of déjà vu run through him, Zach eased down next to her and put his arms around her carefully. As she wept into his shirt, he patted her back comfortingly. It was a beautiful day in June, he thought. Nice weather. Lots of sunlight. It felt cold to know the world was less one child.

When her sobs died down, she drew away from him, sniffling quietly. She was so exhausted, she couldn't feel more than a mild embarrassment that she had cried on him. Ami leaned her head against the cool black stone of the ledge behind her, feeling the fronds of a plant touching the top of her head. "Everyone goes away," she said quietly.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She shook her head, closing her eyes as she felt the coolness of the stone sink through her from the spot where it pressed against her hot, tear-stained cheek.

* * *

Serena and Lita came back to find Zach sitting next to Ami, who was so still she appeared to be sleeping.

"Is she okay?" Serena asked Zach in a hushed whisper as she knelt by her friend.

Immediately, Ami's eyes opened. "I'm fine, Serena. Can you help me wash up before I see Rei? I don't want her to worry."

"Of course," the blonde responded, ushering her away.

As they left, Zach felt an illogical sense of irritation that she would ask for Serena's help, but not his. Nevertheless, he was relieved that Ami seemed to be firmly in Serena's capable hands.

Lita, who stayed with him, asked, "Do you know what happened?"

"She's an intern – first year medical resident – at a hospital, and she lost a patient. He was only a kid, and she was pretty broken up about it."

"Oh, no!" Lita's soft heart was immediately touched, and Zach looked at her with some alarm.

"I know, it's rough. But please, don't start crying, too."

"Well, I won't, but… was it the first patient she's lost?"

He shrugged. "No clue. I guess it doesn't get much easier with time, though. I have to go change," he told her, wanting a few minutes of peace to settle himself.

Lita followed him up the stairs. "You said her name was Ami? Not the same Ami you were friends with in high school?"

"The very same," he said dryly. "Some coincidence, huh?"

Undaunted, his cousin asked, "Didn't you have a crush on her back then?"

He was appalled to find himself blushing. "No. Where did you get such a silly idea like that?"

She laughed merrily even as he shut the door in her face and left to find Jaden to confirm her suspicions.

* * *

Between Serena and Mina, was dressed and ready in record time, and they helped cover for her with Rei. She had a moment's pause when she found herself seated next to Zach at a round table. Fortunately, Serena sat to her right. The older adults, including Zach's grandparents and parents, and Kira and Rei's grandfather, were seated with Rei and Jaden.

The pretty brunette she had seen earlier was on Zach's left, and she introduced herself cheerfully. "Hi, we didn't have a chance to meet earlier, but I'm Lita, Zach and Jaden's cousin."

She smiled back at the warmth in Lita's voice. "I'm Ami. It's nice to meet you."

As they waited for the rest of the table to fill in, Lita's eyes widened when she saw a tall man with long brown hair coming towards them. She poked Zach in the side. "Major hottie coming this way," she told him.

He rolled his eyes. "Please, share your excitable hormones with someone else. Preferably one of the female gender."

She smacked his arm and watched with interest as Ami rose to greet him, looking more cheerful than she had all afternoon.

"Sorry I'm late," he said apologetically.

Zach also watched closely as he bent down to kiss Ami on the cheek and gave her a tight hug. Jaden had informed him that Taiki wouldn't be coming to the wedding that morning, and he had been strangely disappointed not to meet the man. Perhaps he had changed his mind? Then again, it was a very platonic kiss – not that he was an advocate of public displays of affection, but still.

"Not to worry. The first course hasn't been served yet," Ami told the newcomer. The redness of her eyes and nose had been well hidden with foundation and concealer, but Nevan frowned at the slightly clogged tone.

Before he could say anything, Serena joined them with a meaningful look. "Hi, Nev!"

He also kissed her cheek, bending from his considerable height. "Is it college reunion time?"

"Well, if you'd come see us more often…"

"I said I was sorry already! And I bet I wasn't the only one to miss the rehearsal."

Ami held her hands up. "Guilty as charged. Serena will have to fill us both in. I can't believe Rei puts up with us."

At the sad look in her eyes, Nevan tried, "But I'm here for the most important part – dinner!"

Serena laughed as they sat back down. "You always have such an appetite, Nev!"

'So that's not Taiki,' Zach thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Nevan shot back, "You're one to talk. You always finished all the cupcakes!"

"Don't argue, now," Ami said, even though she was smiling. "Zach and Lita will think the alumni of our college don't have any manners."

"Yeah, because they teach snobbery, not manners," Nevan muttered under his breath but stopped at Serena's well-placed kick under the table. "Not with the heels!" he complained.

"Ooh, sorry, I forgot."

Ignoring them, Ami said, "This is Nevan Starre; he went to college with Serena and me. Nevan, this is Zachary, Jaden's brother, and Lita, their cousin."

He nodded at them, making the appropriate response as he zeroed in on Lita and smiled slowly at her when she flushed.

Serena, who noticed their exchange, raised her eyebrows and shared a knowing glance with Ami. Noting that Zach was sitting beside Ami, Nevan asked in an undertone, "Where's Taiki?"

She tried to smile. "In Ankara by this point, I expect. He pulled a special assignment at work and had to…miss out on the wedding."

Familiar with Ami and Taiki and at least the basic currents of their relationship, Nevan merely nodded. "Well, sounds like good news for him. Tell him I said hi, then, and that I'm sorry I missed seeing him."

"I will."

With that, Mina and Keth, who were familiar with everyone at the table, seated themselves, and the rehearsal dinner began.

* * *


	14. Part IV Chapter 6

Love at Fifth Sight

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 4-6_

It turned out, much to Ami's relief, that she didn't have to say much to Zach over dinner. Mina and Serena characteristically dominated the conversation, with interjections from Keth when he chose. Although Lita and Nevan provided their fair share of the conversation, they spoke mostly to each other rather than the table at large.

When all the others seemed to be talking amongst themselves, Serena whispered to Ami, "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Serena. Honestly. I don't know why I fell to pieces like that." But she had an inkling. She had been too dazed to cry with her fellow interns, who hadn't been as familiar with Kevin as she had been, anyway. Then she had had to concentrate on driving to the hotel in one piece and seeming normal on the phone. Zach was the first person she'd come across, and the concern in his voice had made the hideousness of the whole week pour down on her.

She felt oddly calm now, as if the crying jag had served as an extremely effective catharsis. But she was still mortified that Zach had been the one she had cried on.

"Are you sure you still want to come to the bachelorette party? Rei would definitely understand if you didn't come. You should go home and rest. I can drop you off after dinner."

It was tempting, considering that all she wanted to do at this point was go home, crawl into bed, and take something to relieve her headache and send her into a sleep-drenched oblivion. She wasn't even interested in dessert, a creamy chocolate confection Serena was salivating over as it was being served at the other tables. But…

"No, I want to go. There's nothing I can do for – there's nothing I can do right now. Rei will only get married once, and I feel like I really should be there. Besides, not all of the girls have a car, and I promised I'd drive anyone home who needed a ride."

Serena had to smile at the practicality that tinted Ami's response. "All right. But you tell me if you change your mind, okay?"

Ami nodded, then turned her attention to picking at dessert as Serena dug into hers with gusto.

"This is great," she heard Lita remark to Nevan, who was listening to her with an engrossed expression on his face. "I don't really get to handle desserts at work, but I bake a lot in my spare time."

"Are you a chef, then?" he asked, more interested in her than the dessert.

"Oh, no. Just a caterer's assistant right now, but it's my dream to become a chef. I work by day and take cooking lessons by night."

"It sounds like quite a lifestyle."

As his navy blue eyes smiled into her emerald green ones, Ami felt a pang in her chest. It was strange to be thinking of such things now, but she was wondering if she could remember the last time Taiki had looked at her like that, or she at him.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

It seemed that there was no escape this time, with Lita and Nevan talking to each other, Serena single-mindedly devouring her dessert, and Mina and Keth arguing playfully over the raspberries she had stolen from his plate.

Ami couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of her thoughts – she was imagining telling Zach, her high school crush, that she didn't know where her longtime relationship with her fiancé was going. "Oh, nothing really. I wanted to say…I'm sorry for…earlier." She decided that the best description was a vague one; it certainly won out over "breaking down" or "crying all over your shirt."

"It must have been very uncomfortable for you, and I apologize."

His tone was casual as he said, "It wasn't a big deal." However, it was anything but when he asked seriously, "Are you sure you're feeling up to this? It's not so important, this dinner thing, we're already on the dessert course. I could drive you home, or wherever you want to go, if you want to leave."

She was surprised at how he sounded almost like Serena with that protective note in his voice.

Zach continued, "I heard your fiancé couldn't be here, so…" He knew he had stuck his foot in his mouth when her hesitant smile disappeared and she looked away. "Ah, I didn't mean it that way. Really. Please don't be offended."

He put on his very best smile. "I just wanted to see if I could be any help."

Ami tried to see past the embarrassment. "I appreciate the concern, but I'll be fine." For some reason unbeknownst to her, she prolonged the conversation by adding, "Besides, Rei's bachelorette party is tonight."

"I know. Jaden's bachelor party is tonight, also. We'll have to keep the drinking down to a respectable level to keep him from having a hangover tomorrow. You don't look like you're up to drinking, though." He tried to keep himself from hitting his forehead at this second faux pas.

"Mm. Well, I imagine our festivities will be slightly tamer than yours," she replied tartly, "and I'm perfectly capable of gauging my own tolerance level, thank you."

Zach grinned. "I remember that frosty tone. Just like the first time you drove me somewhere and scared me half to death, but all you kept telling me was that you were perfectly aware of the speed limit, or that pedestrian, or that the light was turning yellow. "

They immediately grew silent at the memories of the past, and they missed Zach's grandmother sneaking up on them. "SO Zachary, is this your girlfriend?" she boomed.

He winced as Lita's shoulders shaking with silent laughter. "Grandma, we're not…" He couldn't come up with a good way to tell her that the majority of them were not hearing-impaired, so he desisted. "No, Grandma, I already told you, I'm not seeing anyone," he said patiently. "This is Rei's cousin, Ami. Ami, this is my grandmother, Rosalind Harris."

Over Ami's quiet response, Rosalind demanded, "Well, why don't you have a date for the wedding? I didn't raise my grandson to be socially inept, you know."

Lita leaned over and whispered in Nevan's ear, "My mother's named after her. She's fantastic when she's not going on about _my_ personal life."

Nevan raised an eyebrow and asked offhandedly, "So you're single?"

Her cheeks went pink. "Yes. How about you?"

"That's lucky. So am I." He smiled back at her.

Meanwhile, before Zach could defend himself, Rosalind was already turning to Ami. "You seem like a smart girl. Do you think my grandson can't find a girl to court?"

She flushed pink. "Ah, Ms. Harris, I couldn't say. I'm engaged."

"Young lady, your eyes don't fall out once you're engaged. I should know. Really, I don't know what these modern young women are thinking. Goodness knows he's always been too smart for his own good, so it can't be that his brains are deficient. Is my grandson so hard on the eyes?"

"Um… no, not really," Ami mumbled, her eyes looking anywhere but at Zach.

Rosalind shot a triumphant look at her grandson, who was looking rather floored. "Well, then. You should have no trouble finding a nice girl like this one here. Make sure you bring her to Rose and Grant's house in July, then." With that, she swooped off to torment the next table of guests.

Zach groaned, trying to make light of the situation and take the spotlight off Ami. "Lita, why do your parents have to have a family party next month?"

Lita laughed at him. "You know my dad; he likes the whole family getting together."

"Any chance he'll push it back a few months? Maybe a year? A couple of years?"

* * *

After dinner, Mina set a glittery tiara on Rei's head and made an exaggerated flourish at the limousine. "Your carriage awaits."

Ami, Serena, Lita, and two of Rei's other close female friends crowded in after them. With a sigh, Rei kicked off her heels and said, "I'm glad that's over."

"Don't tell me you're tired already!" Mina exclaimed. "The fun's just beginning!"

"Oh, no! But I'm glad I don't have to talk to dozens of people I barely know anymore. Did you meet Zach's grandmother?" Rei cast a guilty look at Lita, who grinned and shrugged good-naturedly. "She grilled me for what felt like half an hour."

"You should have heard her going on about Zach and Ami," the brunette replied mischievously.

Rei's eyes widened. "What? Zach and _Ami_?"

"It seems like she thought they'd make a good couple," Serena giggled. "But Ami told her she's engaged, so Zach has to find a girl by their next family event or face the wrath of his grandmother."

Taking pity on Ami, Mina said outrageously, "If you ask me, she should have had her eye on Lita and Nevan!"

Taken aback, Lita stammered, "I don't know what you're talking about. We barely know each other."

Serena chimed in, "I've known Nevan since college, and he seemed really taken with you. And he's single right now."

"I know," she said before she could help herself.

Turning laughingly to Ami, Mina remarked, "You see? She's scoping out the competition already."

The rest of the ride was filled with teasing remarks, and Ami took the opportunity to sit back and let herself relax – at least as much as she could in her current attire. Mina had picked out her outfit, and she was already regretting the powder blue heels that went with the skirt and scoop-necked, sleeveless top.

* * *

Their destination was Atlantic City, and they poured out to hit the boardwalk, the casinos, and the bars. For awhile, it was fun, especially when she could smell the ocean under the scent of cigarette smoke and fried foods. But she had no real interest in gambling or flirting, and despite her irritation over Zach's comment, she hadn't been planning on drinking anything besides water with a slice of lemon.

Ami chose a discreet seat to observe her friends from, wondering at how Rei and Mina seemed to know the exact moment to extract themselves from the men they were dancing with. She had little experience with bars and parties, but she figured that even if she had, she would never have known how to handle herself so expertly.

She smiled to see Mina's enthusiasm and how beautiful Rei looked on the night before her wedding – on the morning of, Ami corrected herself as she glanced at her watch. It was half past one, and she could feel a stunning headache coming on.

'Too little sleep,' she decided, wondering if it had been a bad idea to come along after all. But it had seemed inconceivable for her not to be a part of the event, and she enjoyed the girls' company. Even though she generally preferred to listen rather than talk, she had missed spending time with her female friends and their unique blend of discussion, which covered everything from make-up tips and relationships to work woes and politics.

Suddenly, she spotted Rei making her way through the crowd towards her and waved.

"I'm having so much fun!" Rei exclaimed as she finally reached Ami, her tiara knocked slightly askew from being jarred by the dancers.

"Well, I'm very glad to hear that!" she replied laughingly as she reached up to right the tiara.

Rei positively beamed, the glow on her face due to happiness and the body heat rather than alcohol. Ami couldn't resist telling her, "You look so beautiful, Rei."

"I'm so happy, Ami!" She wrapped her cousin in an impulsive hug, then pulled away and said, "I'm marrying Jaden tomorrow. I can hardly believe it, but I'm so happy. Even if it did take him two years to propose."

Ami laughed again at this characteristic statement. "It's so good to see you happy, Rei. No one deserves it more."

As she observed the gloss of Rei's long, ebony black hair, the candy pink of her cheeks, and the incomparable shine in her luminous purple eyes, Ami wondered if she would even come close to looking as beautiful and content on the eve of her own wedding.

She tried to imagine herself saying the same thing about Taiki, although Taiki would be the one more likely to jokingly criticize her about putting off the wedding. Even as she tried out the words, "I'm marrying Taiki tomorrow," she felt only a gray mist of uncertainty and a sense of "Oh well, the time will come when it will," and marriage seemed like the natural culmination of a relationship as long as theirs.

It worried her slightly, and she tried to brood unnoticeably on the way home. The others were all in high spirits, except for Serena, who was already asleep in the corner with her head on Ami's shoulder and drooling slightly. With a sigh, Ami leaned her head on top of Serena's and closed her eyes.

'It's only natural,' she told herself. 'Everyone has doubts, and they'll pass. Just because I'm not ready to get married now doesn't mean that he's not the right one or that I'll never get married.'

* * *

As the limo pulled into the hotel parking lot and they emerged with stiff legs, Ami was surprised to hear Zach's voice greeting them. She finished waking the sleepy blonde and peered at him with eyes heavy with exhaustion and mascara. "Zach? What are you doing here?"

He grinned at her, seemingly none the worse for his own night of debauchery. "What, you think Jaden would have let you guys go off without keeping tabs on his woman?"

"You're lucky she didn't hear that," Serena said, suddenly so wide awake that Ami was envious of her energy.

"Well…we actually just got in. I drew the short straw and had to be designated driver, since we manly men don't take limos. Jaden would only sleep after I promised to make sure Rei got back safely, and Keth and I still had to pour him into bed."

Ami said idly, "I hope he'll be lucid tomorrow."

Zach watched with some amusement as Rei and Mina marched into the hotel to find Kenneth. "Yeah, don't worry about. He wouldn't screw up his wedding day. So how are we getting you ladies home?"

Still a little miffed at the implication that Jaden didn't trust them to get Rei home in one piece, Ami replied, "Serena and I are driving."

"What? You're dead on your feet. Let me give you guys a ride."

"That won't be necessary," Ami told him stiffly.

Serena jumped in, "He does have a point, Ami. I had such a long nap, and I'm so awake now! I can take Susan and Luna home, and Zach can drive you back." She indicated Rei's two friends from work.

"What? No. You're just as tired as I am," Ami protested, her blood going cold at the thought of being alone with Zach. "Why can't Zach give you a ride home and I'll drop off Susan and Luna?"

Her friend gave her a knowing look as she yawned twice in the middle of her question. "Uh huh. Besides, I live closer to them. Well, thanks so much, Zach! We'll all feel much better knowing Ami won't be falling asleep behind the wheel. Good night, Ames!"

As she walked off, apparently ending the argument, Ami called after her desperately, "No, wait! Serena!"

The blonde only turned and waved enthusiastically. "See you tomorrow!"

'I'm going to kill her,' Ami thought. She glanced around at the parking lot, which was now deserted as Serena, Susan, and Luna drove off and seemed quite eerie. She rubbed her arms, which were chilled by the night air.

"Come on, let's go. Where's your jacket? Is it in your car?"

Ami glared at him. "I lent it to Mina because she forgot hers. Zach, I appreciate the offer, but really, I can drive home perfectly well."

"Don't be such a pain," he told her. "You just don't like my driving." He began walking, and she followed him to continue arguing.

As he grinned at her, Ami felt strangely breathless. To compensate, she said snippily, "I didn't say anything about your driving. I merely said that I'm perfectly capable of getting myself home."

"Ouch. Well, it might make you happier if I said you'd put me in my place, but… you haven't. Okay. Here we go." The car chirped at him as he unlocked the doors, and he held open the passenger door for her.

"What are you doing?"

Zach explained patiently, "This is my car, Ami. I'm driving you home."

"What? No. I have car, and I'm driving it home."

He leaned against the door, his casual stance a contrast to his steely tone. "We can argue about it all night, or you can get in the car and let me drive you home."

Ami pouted. "I don't see how this is any of your business."

"I'm just trying to make sure you get home safely. Keth said it's a pretty long drive from the hotel to your apartment, and he said Mina told him you've had a brutal schedule this past week. Those shadows under your eyes look dark enough to drown in."

She frowned, adverse to the idea that he had been hearing so much about her. "Still, I can drive. I'm used to late hours."

He said patiently, "All the more reason to rest while you can. Serena and Rei have been worried about you all week. Meanwhile, I'm pretty fresh, and I haven't been doing anything this week except eating and chatting. I've probably put on five pounds."

She almost began to smile but caught herself just in time.

Zach continued, "You don't want them to worry, do you? You can leave your car here. It'll be fine, I promise."

"I won't have a car to get here tomorrow," Ami pointed logically, although he sensed that she was caving.

"I can pick you up, or if you're more comfortable, I'm sure Serena or Mina and Kenneth wouldn't mind giving you a ride."

She said desperately, "I don't want to make you go out of your way. You're not familiar with the city."

He rolled his eyes. "I've driven past your apartment. You live what, fifteen minutes from Mina? She pointed it out when we drove past. Besides, you can give directions, can't you?"

Even though her expression was turning sulky, he couldn't help but think she looked cute. And gorgeous. Her heels did excellent things for her legs, although he wondered how she could drive in them, unaware of the sneakers she kept in the backseat of her car. 'And she has a fiancé, and you have that weird and uncomfortable past,' he reminded himself when he realized where his thoughts were going.

"You've had a rough day, and a long one. Just let me do you a favor," he said.

Even now, when she would have appreciated the ride home, she felt miserable about accepting it, since it would have signified just one more thing she couldn't do right. Ami looked at him levelly, hating how she had felt so displaced and insufficient throughout the entire day.

"I don't want favors from you. I don't want you to talk to me as if we're still best friends. I'm not seventeen and silly anymore, Zach."

* * *


	15. Part IV Chapter 7

_Love at Fifth Sight_

_Part 4-7_

"_I don't want favors from you. I don't want you to talk to me as if we're still best friends. I'm not seventeen and silly anymore, Zach."_

Hurt flooded through him, but it was quickly followed by anger. After all, it hadn't been solely his fault that their friendship had fallen apart. All that time he'd been in South America, far away from home and sometimes wondering if he'd ever make it back, there hadn't been a peep from her. Maybe she thought he'd gotten what he'd deserved. And afterwards, when she'd been off at college and falling in love with Taiki – still no word.

Just as Zach was getting ready to loose his own torrent of harsh words, he took a closer look at her. Her eyes, no longer flashing with self-righteous indignation, had lowered, and she only looked sad and tired, and a little lonely. With an inward sigh, Zach let the things he was thinking pass unsaid, feeling as if he were easing back from a jagged precipice

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I never thought you were silly," he said levelly.

Ami looked back at him, also realizing how close they had come to breaking their shaky truce and possibly ruining Rei and Jaden's wedding. All she could think was that she needed to go home, lay her head down on a pillow, and close out the world for a couple hours. "I know. I'm sorry; I didn't mean what I said. It's just…you confuse me, and I'm not ready to just pick up where we left off."

"Well, I'll be out of your way after tomorrow," he pointed out.

Ami looked at him wearily, wondering if she had enough left in her to erase the hurt lurking in his eyes, and wondering if she wanted to. Finally, fatigue – or her soft heart – gave in, and she got into the car. When he just stood there, perplexed, she mustered a faint smile. "Well? Unless you've changed your mind… take me home, please."

* * *

As they drove, Ami giving him quiet directions every so often, Zach said, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable by bringing up the past so often. It's difficult for me, too. It just made it easier to talk to you, made you more approachable if I just spoke to you like I would have while we were in high school."

"I understand. I'm sorry for snapping at you in the parking lot. As you, and Serena, and just about everyone else has told me, I'm pretty tired. It doesn't make it right, of course, but I'm embarrassed for taking it out on you."

He shrugged, wondering how much his presence had contributed to the stress of the last week. "Well, why don't you tell me a little more about yourself now, so I can stop channeling our past selves?" he suggested lightly, figuring it would past the time and hopefully make things a little less awkward the next day. "I hear you're an intern now," he began, than winced. Perhaps bringing up the hospital hadn't been such a great idea on today of all days.

Ami watched the lights skimming across the pooled drops on the windshield distractedly. "Yes, I am. Ordinarily, I enjoy my work very much, even if it's difficult and I don't see as much of my friends or my mother as I'd like."

"Still going into…pediatric oncology?"

She smiled, surprised that he had remembered. "That's the plan."

"And you're engaged now. Congratulations."

"Thank you," she responded quietly.

"I've read some of Taiki Kou's stuff in the paper. He seems like a talented writer," Zach said much more graciously than he felt.

She only said, "Yes, he is. I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing that, if he were here."

Zach felt unreasonably gratified with the slight bite in her voice, relieved that she wasn't singing his praises.

"What about you?" Ami asked. "I'm afraid I'm not as informed about what you've been up to."

He smiled wryly at her subtle hit and found it best to skate over the year he had taken off before college. "Well, I spent a year in Argentina, came back and did my four years of college. I'm currently in the process of getting my doctoral degree."

She raised her eyebrows. "That sounds impressive. And rather unexpected, if you don't mind me saying so. You didn't seem to be particularly fond of your studies when we knew each other."

"Well… I wasn't doing too horribly towards the end of senior year." Zach hesitated before explaining, "My time in Argentina changed me a lot. I'm concentrating in medical sociology now, and I hope to teach one day."

"Medical sociology. Really? That sounds exciting. I thought you wouldn't go near a hospital if you were paid too," Ami said, her words infused with more interest.

"Oh, that part hasn't changed. I can admit it, I'm a complete wuss when it comes to needles and blood and other stuff like that. I'm concentrating on how individuals and groups behave with respect to health and illness, looking at how people seek care, from who, where, and why. I get some data from hospitals, and I may eventually co-author papers with some doctors, so I have some experience in dealing with your ilk," he joked.

She smiled. "Was that a jab at doctors?"

"Well, maybe. Some of them need to be taken down a notch. Not you," he added hastily.

Ami raised her eyebrows, not acknowledging his hurried addition. "Oh? And what about you academics in your ivory towers?"

"That's just a stereotype," he complained as he pulled into a free parking spot.

She realized that she had been so caught up in the conversation that she hadn't noticed them nearing her apartment. "I guess you were telling the truth about your night driving skills," she commented as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

He only smiled as he turned off the ignition and opened the car door.

"Oh, you don't need to…"

She trailed off, and Zach gave her a wicked grin. "I'll walk you to the door."

"That's not–"

"Necessary?" he finished for her. "I know, but it throws you off, and it's kind of fun."

She frowned at him as he came up the sidewalk next to her. "Only you or Jaden or Mina could think of having fun at this hour of the night."

"You say that like it's an insult."

Ami smiled as she began digging in her purse for the keys. As she unlocked the door, she glanced at him suspiciously when he only waited and smiled charmingly. She sighed, looking at his expectant face and thinking about facing the empty darkness of her room. She was tired, but all of a sudden, she didn't want to be completely alone. Taiki was gone, she was frustrated with their inability to communicate, Rei and Jaden were getting married, and she felt unbearably lonely.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked. "I can make you some coffee."

Zach grinned. "I'd like that."

When they entered, Ami left him in the kitchen with a stern admonition to stay put as she detoured to her room to kick off her shoes and find more comfortable clothing. She came out in a red sweatshirt and jeans to find him in the hallway, examining a watercolor of the beach done in dreamy colors by an expert hand.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in the kitchen?" she asked resignedly. She had forgotten how difficult he could be.

"This is a great painting," he remarked instead of answering her question. Pointing to the initials R.A. in the corner, he asked, "By your father?"

Ami looked at him for a moment, realizing that they had never discussed her dad in high school even after Rei and Jaden had reminded them about their past run-ins at the beach. It surprised her a little, making her think that perhaps she hadn't opened up to him as much as she'd remembered.

Certainly she had never discussed her feelings about her father with Taiki in great depth. Although he had never remarked on it, she had received the clear impression from his family that they thought of divorce as somewhat stigmatizing.

She also thought of how Taiki could analyze the paintings in detail and tell her about the artist's gift of expression, the brushstrokes, and what he might have been trying to convey about aesthetics through his work. Ami only wanted to know what her father had been feeling when he painted, if he regretted leaving her and her mother, or if he had finally found contentment.

"Yes. One of his calmer paintings. Every so often, I'll receive a package from him, although I can't imagine how they find their way to me when I move so often."

"No one's impossible to find if you look hard enough."

She liked the sentiment, even though she went through to the kitchen to escape from the memories and the emotions. She was concentrating on brewing the coffee when Zach moved up behind her and continued, "I liked him."

Ami looked at him, startled.

"I guess what I think doesn't matter so much. But I remember how he let me paint with him that one time. I could tell he cared a lot about you, even though he seemed impatient with where he was in life, thinking about the places he wanted to go, things he wanted to accomplish. He still had it in him to let two kids paint with him, and he still tries to let you know how he's doing through these paintings, even if he can't find the words."

She felt the tears pricking her eyes as she turned back to the coffeemaker.

"Want me to give you a hand with that?"

Ami nodded and stepped back. As Zach fiddled with the machine, it gave her a chance to compose herself, and she said, "I'm afraid I'm not used to making coffee. I drink more tea, and Taiki usually makes the coffee."

Like the entire apartment, with the men's shoes at the door and certain choices of décor, her words reminded him that she was living with someone, that he couldn't let himself get too close to someone else's fiancée.

'Think of her that way,' he told himself sternly, 'not some gorgeous, mysterious, impossible woman you had a crush on in high school, who can't accept any favors, and who you're still impossibly angry with sometimes.'

* * *

As she waited outside the carved wooden doors, Ami blessed Rei and Jaden for deciding against having their ceremony begin at the crack of dawn that morning. Considering she had just gotten six straight hours of sleep for the first time that week, she thought she was doing very well.

Earlier that morning, Mina and Kenneth had picked her up; now they stood in front of her, waiting to go into the chapel. Directly behind them were Serena and Nevan, the second couple.

Ami cast a surreptitious look at Zach, who would be escorting her down the aisle in their positions of maid of honor and best man. He looked tall and elegant in his black tux; his bow tie and cummerbund were a flashy crimson color. The girls wore the same vibrant shade of red and carried fragrant bouquets of Casablanca lilies.

They had just finished helping Rei get ready – not that she needed it. The entire morning, she had looked beautiful, composed, and indescribably happy. No hint of cold feet there. When Zach had taken his place next to Ami, he had whispered in her ear that Jaden had been grinning foolishly all morning.

As if he sensed her thinking about him, Zach glanced down at her. Their eyes met, then they both turned to face the front as the doors opened and they heard the beginning chords of the wedding march, which was being played on the harp. Ami quickly slipped her arm through Zach's crooked one, feeling the warmth of his skin even through the fabric.

She sighed quietly as she walked through the doors, savoring the way the silvery notes poured over her like a gentle summer rain. The audience's attention was focused behind her, on Rei and her grandfather, but she spotted her mother to the left and smiled at her. She looked ahead to see Jaden standing alone at the front, no longer grinning but still radiating an unmistakable sense of joy as he watched Rei walk towards him.

At the front of the room, Ami drew her arm away, and she and Zach took up their places on opposite sides. She watched Rei bend slightly to receive her grandfather's kiss on the cheek, then smile radiantly at Jaden as she took his outstretched hand.

As the ceremony began, Ami couldn't help but let her mind wander. Sooner or later, would she and Taiki find themselves in Rei and Jaden's places? She could envision it very clearly. Taiki would be smiling at her, that quiet, grave smile that warmed and comforted her. She imagined her mother would walk her down the aisle and knew that Seiya would wink at her from his place next to Taiki. Almost certainly, Taiki would have a string quartet or trio playing instead of a harp, but that was all right, because she liked violins almost as much. The only thing Ami couldn't see was herself – what would she be wearing, what would she be thinking?

It saddened her that she could picture every last detail so clearly, that she knew every thing was in place except for her. But on this day above all, she didn't want to be sad, so she focused her attention on Rei and Jaden again – only to look right past Jaden's shoulder to see Zach watching her, a concerned look on his face. She smiled quickly at him, then firmly tilted her head so Rei was directly in her line of sight. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Zach shift his attention back to the couple.

* * *

After the ceremony was complete, everything seemed to explode in a flurry of motion. There were so many people to talk to, and as Rei's cousin, Ami was in great demand, even though she didn't feel that her conversation was the most stimulating in the world. After the guests had had a chance to nibble at finger food and sip champagne, they left for the long drive to the reception site. Ami sat with Mina and Kenneth again, dozing in the backseat against Serena's shoulder while the two blondes chattered away and Kenneth kept his eyes on the road, a genial smile on his face.

She ran into Zach again at the reception, when she stumbled over him on the way back from the restroom. "Oh, I'm sorry – what are you doing here?" she demanded, embarrassed at her clumsiness.

He smiled wryly. "Not your fault; it's my big feet, as usual. I'm trying to memorize my speech. It's utterly unfair. Jaden goes through the whole day without a single bout of cold feet, and I've got a cavalcade of butterflies storming through my stomach."

Ami laughed merrily and said, "I admit that I'm very relieved the first toast responsibilities go to the Best Man."

"If 'ladies first' is the universal rule in all other situations, why can't it hold in this case?" he griped pitifully, shoving two battered-looking index cards into his pocket. When she just smiled and shrugged in response, he asked, "So how are you holding up?"

"What do you mean?" she asked warily.

Zach said mildly, "It's been a long day after a pretty long night, and weddings are always emotional events." He paused, then added, "You seemed a bit subdued in the middle of the ceremony. Is it because Rei seems a little further away now?"

Ami flushed, hoping he couldn't see her face in the shadowy alcove. Kira and Rei had always been her family unit, but they hadn't lived together in such a long time that Rei's marriage to Jaden, which wasn't exactly a surprise, didn't shake her. How could she tell him she felt sad not because she would miss Rei, but because she couldn't imagine herself in Rei's place?

She had waited too long to respond. His green eyes were keen as he asked, "Or is it something else?"

She opened her mouth, prepared to give the convenient lie that yes, she had been feeling gloomy because it felt like Rei was leaving her behind. But to her surprise, she heard herself answer, "I know Rei and I will always be just as close, whether she's married or not. It's embarrassing, but I was sad because I couldn't see myself in her place, just glowing with happiness because I was about to marry… because I was getting married."

He knew the name she left unsaid and wondered at her reticence.

Because she was trying to deflect attention from herself, not because she was in any way curious, of course, she asked "Have you ever thought about these things?"

Zach smiled wryly, although her wistful tone pulled at his heart. "Only in the most abstract way. Whatever it says about me, I don't think I've had any serious relationships work out. Don't get me wrong – I'm not commitment phobic, and I don't shun intimacy. With my parents, I sometimes use my lifestyle as an excuse. I dated a lot in college, but dating in grad school is a killer.  
"Most women want someone who's already making a living and can live that glamorous twenty-something lifestyle with them. I'm not doing the former yet, and I have no interest in the latter. I tried dating inside and outside of my department, but I never really found someone who I met and thought, 'Ah! You're the one – I want to spend the rest of my life with you.'"

Ami smiled at his tone and extravagant gesture. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Was it like that for you and Taiki, if you don't mind me asking?" he inquired curiously.

Her expression grew instantly serious, but she appeared thoughtful rather than sad. "I'm not sure. At the time, I was a freshman in college, and I was concentrating on my pre-med courses rather than pursuing a relationship. I appreciated Taiki's maturity and his passion for knowledge, even though it's in a different area of expertise than my own. Perhaps I liked him more for that. I tend to get very competitive with those in my own field."

As her lashes lowered shyly, Zach laughed and said, "Oh, right! Do you remember the very first time we played chess on a rainy day?"

Her brow wrinkled, then smoothed as the memory came back to her. "I do. I thought you were absolutely horrible, but your craftiness impressed me anyway."

"Uh huh. And all those times you used to get mad at me if I got better grades on tests in high school?"

"Oh, come on, it wasn't _that_ often," Ami responded hotly. "As I recall, you were barely doing your homework when we first met. Not exactly the way to get higher grades than me."

Resisting the urge to make a face at her, which would have been entirely too childish, Zach corrected thoughtfully, "It wasn't actually the first time we met. More like…the third. This time would be the fourth. It's funny how things work out, isn't it?"

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence," she said repressively, wanting to get away from discussion of their past together.

Acquiescing to her wishes, he reminded her, "You haven't answered my question yet. Was it love at first sight for you, so to speak?"

She smiled faintly and shook her head. "I don't believe in love at first sight. I would just say that we're very well-suited. We began seeing each other in college and then agreed to stay together while he pursued a career in journalism and I went to medical school. We work well together; he was – is – very supportive, and our personalities are somewhat similar. We're both quiet and introverted and enjoy many of the same activities."

"It sounds like you won't have any trouble working things out, then," Zach said quietly, wondering why he felt so glum at the prospect.

She shrugged, feeling much less optimistic than he. "Well, what about you? What are those sterling qualities a woman must possess for you to want to spend the rest of your life with her?"

"You're making me sound so demanding. I'll have you know, plenty of women have broken up with me. I hear a litany of – 'You're too tall,' 'You're too short,' 'You're too skinny,' 'You're too intellectual,' 'You're not serious enough.' Can't you see why I might be confused?"

Zach paused to grin at her laugh, then continued, "Of course, I'm exaggerating a bit. I'd have to say that first of all, I'm not looking for someone who's perfect. This is a common misconception. She has to be perfect for me, but that doesn't mean she can't have flaws."

Ami raised her eyebrows. "How generous."

He burst out laughing. "Of course, she'll have a great sense of humor. She has to be... I don't know; it's difficult to describe! It's much easier if I list some impossible demands like: five foot two, a Virgo, ferociously intelligent, and astoundingly beautiful."

Ami's mind stuttered to a halt then, and she almost couldn't process the rest of his words.

"…I hope she's someone who has a great passion for life. But I think above all, I'll know she's the one if I feel like everything will be all right, as long as we're together." He finished a little self-consciously. When he saw her expression, he asked, "What? Is that totally unrealistic?"

"Oh…no, of course not," she said dazedly.

Zach frowned, but before they could say anything else, Lita walked out of the ballroom and spotted them. "There you are! Zach, it's almost time for you to give the first toast."

"I'll be right in."

The brunette gave Ami an inquisitive glance, then nodded and headed back inside.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

She forced a smile. "Of course. Good luck with that speech."

He pulled an agonized face, then winked, and followed Lita into the ballroom.

* * *

When Ami took her seat again between Rei and Kira, her cousin looked at her curiously, but quickly turned her attention as Zach stood with his champagne flute. Smiling easily, he said, "Good evening, everyone. Thanks for quieting down – I'm enough of a klutz that if I tapped a glass, it would probably shatter all over the bride, and that's the last thing we want to happen to so lovely a bride."

He paused to wait for the quick laugh to die down, then continued with a flourish of his glass. "But Rei is much more than a pretty face. I'm very glad and honored that she's now my sister-in-law. She's intelligent, classy, and can kick my or Jaden's butt if necessary. Excuse me my language," he said graciously to some of the more scandalized members of the audience.

"So now, I know you must be wondering, how did Jaden ever manage to get a girl like Rei? Luckily, I know most of the story. It all started when she was eight and he was nine…"

He recounted a few of the amusing of charming episodes of Rei and Jaden's acquaintance, which made Jaden grin like a maniac and Rei slightly teary. As his speech drew to a close, Zach's expression grew more serious.

"I don't think Rei and Jaden will need any luck, and I'm absolutely certain they'll be extremely happy with each other. But any couple can use some well-wishing, and I don't know of any more deserving than them. So – here's to Rei and Jaden."

* * *


End file.
